Prices to pay, Rewards to Earn
by Soulofthepast
Summary: Princess must give up many things normal girls are lucky to have. Freedoms are given up in place of duty and tasks. In the end, girls are still girls, moments of vanity and personal want fill their hearts. Now these girls must chose between duty and love
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hello everyone. I have a new idea for a fan fiction, however because it is a new idea and a crossover not highly used I need to know I have the proper backing I need before I decide to continue. RW series is still in effect, I just know that I will burn out on typing that one up without a break since it's so very, very long. I know I am not the most perfect writer known on this planet, and I will also state that I do not try to be. In saying this, I will try to be as correct as I can, if you see a mistake, let me know and I will correct it when I can.

This idea, while isn't new, is one hard to pull off and I tend to want to see if I can in a way that can not only be realistic in the eyes of the Yuri fans, but also slightly different in the ways that these pairings are viewed. I hope you like this fiction, and I hope I can get proper feedback since this is a new, written as I go storyline. I have a disclaimer and side notes below, if you choose to read them, they are there for your use. If you do not wish to read it, please proceed to where it says prologue. I promise this will be the longest A/N in this fan fiction and the rest will be kept very short. Below is just for the sake of everyone's sanity.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own sailor moon. I am merely a fan of the series and nothing more.

SIDE NOTES: Rei and Minako play the main pairing, however they will not "get together" deeply until later. They do not start out madly in love. Other pairings include a few off the wall ideas hardly challenged such as AmixZoisite, and the more daring, if not crazy MakotoxSetsuna. Yuri pairings are found as the basic building blocks for this take on an old Mary-Sue annoyance. Also, I want to state I am making Zoisite a woman in this fiction, more on why as you read. I know that he was a man in the Japanese series; however, I believe that an AmixZoisite pairing works very well when Zoisite is used as a female.

Another thing to be noted is the fact that the setting takes place in the Silver Millennium. This **does** **not** take place during the fall of the kingdom nor the battles preceding such an occurrence. This is where my fiction differs highly. Instead, it will be under the pretense that the battles will not come and it is, in all reality, a peaceful place to live. Rather, I wish to look at this fiction as a way to study the characters personalities as a whole as we see in both the SUB and the DUB (since some are drastically beaten into a pulp and changed) hence Zoisite being a woman.

I want to try and find the peaceful place to bring the two sides of personality changes into an even balance and perhaps take a look at the various changes. As a result, one could say that in a small way, the fan fiction is a crossover of itself. (Nice paradox there… ) Like I said some things in this are very much Mary-sue in order, however they will not be Mary-sue in format I can guarantee you this. (The pure pairings and ideals I know I will put into place can assure this without a doubt.)

Again I want to state that I DO NOT own Sailor Moon and am merely a fan of the series.

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Prologue: The Price of Royalty.

The air was hot and dry on the sandy desert found on the planet where the greatest of warriors took residence. It was a place many found the least bit enjoyable as the sand scorched bare feet because of the blazing sun. Dressed in the lightest of clothing a figure ran freely, enjoying the searing heat. The girl was on the cusp of womanhood as she allowed the adolescent energy take hold of her. A red skirt was discarded quickly followed by a matching top embellished with a red coral called Moonga. It was that of Mars and that of war. The gem was a mark of pride for her people.

She jumped into the oasis she had found. It was a rare sight on her planet, and one that once found she quickly had to covet. Her planet was that of combat, of true battle; however that was only one face known by the race known as Martians. Yes they were possessive; they were strong, very proud, and overtly nomadic. Mystic in ways of mental energy was another trait found among them, as was a deep foundation of honor and beliefs.

Beyond that came a softer side that very few could really understand. Perhaps it was the eyes of adults that allowed such serous images, this girl, though a princess wasn't nearly as serious as her father. She enjoyed many things, and, she was far from the blood thirsty ways found among a battle front. Her people as a whole were very peaceful. They had families, knew of love and care. They understood remorse and how to mourn. Their blades were that of protection, their heart that of valor. True to combat, but also true to community, and unity, they would not case aside people in need of aid nor would they willingly take the lives of those who had caused no harm. Each planet was like this, they had demons that were overplayed, core values that were easily mistaken among those who would never understand. Despite all of the Martian downfalls if one looked at this girl then it was all too clear how large of a heart she had.

Her violet eyes shimmered in astonishment as she swam in the exceptionally warm water. Her long arms and legs allowed for even strokes as she took laps too and fro. Long hair cascaded over her bra, hiding any indecency she may have provided otherwise. Overtly obvious was a level of mirth, perhaps followed quickly with loneliness and a hidden sense of self loathing. Why, well that was harder to explain. Her eyes wouldn't speak freely, her lips, though parted for breath, would not speak of her inner pains. Her mind was filled, but to the outside observer one would never truly know what went on to make her trapped within her own psyche.

This was indeed for the best; she was a princess after all. A princess of mars didn't run around like a mad woman. A princess of her planet didn't expose herself openly just for a swim. She was expected to have a level of poise, of elegance, and of discipline. She was to be able to lead an army in such times of need, though in all honesty, these times were very few and far between. Sighing she exited the water and replaced her clothing, she should be getting back to her camp. It wasn't a long walk back, but she knew she would dry before she reached the outskirts. That simple truth allowing a mischievous smirk to find her lips only momentarily.

Once she reached the small but effective campsite she saw lunch being prepared. It was very simple today, most likely some sort of slain animal, or other flora that could be found under the sands. A tall brunette girl knelt over the cooking pot sighing in grief before looking up too see the raven girl next to her. "How in the name of Jupiter do you cook this thing Rei?" The girl grimaced again as she tossed what looked to be a failed attempt at cooked snake into the bushes.

"How many times do I have to tell you that snakes have to be grilled, not put into soup." Rei sighed gently at the wasted food source. "Our food isn't as plentiful as Jupiter, you need to be careful or we will have to move camp again. Give me that knife." Her order was direct and precise as she pulled a live snake from the wicker barrel. She made sure that the snake ended its life quickly, in the most humane way possible. She may have wanted to eat, but she hadn't wanted the snake to suffer in the process. From there she made sure to cut the meat into the proper sizes and took the water pot off of the fire, placing a metal grate over it instead.

Rei then proceeded to keep watch on the flanks of snake as she heard Makoto banter on about poor survival and lack of food. Rei took sympathy, but stated important facts. She was the teacher for the week; it was her job to explain the importance of such things. "Makoto, I know our ways of life are new to you, but that's why we are out here to begin with. Just as I have to put up with your storms, you'll need to learn how to survive in harsh conditions you aren't used too. It's part of our training, and as much as I agree with you on the distaste on eating wild animals in the manner we are currently, sometimes I hate to say, we have no other option."

"It doesn't mean you have to slaughter the snake." Makoto shot back, she could cut prepared meat just fine, but she didn't have the heart to kill her own food. She couldn't watch it happen, even if natural order and survival dictated that some less desirable measures take place. "Aren't there any plants that we can eat? I saw a cactus a while back. Can't we strip and eat that?"

"No, I've already told you, that is our liquid foundation. To have clean water is important. We need to keep that cactus there or the roots will die and so will our water supply." As she turned the cooking meat she continued softly, caring, and almost understanding of the plight Makoto had to endure. "The roots hold the soil and sand down, without it, that plastic would do no good, and the water basins to collect the condensation would be useless. We cannot drink the oasis water since it is contaminated with sulfur. That one cactus is providing for us, just as this snake has done."

Makoto growled at this. "How can you even begin to say that?" She did eat mainly plants when she was out having to forage on other planets. She couldn't understand the real meaning being Rei's words. This world was freighting too her. A place with no rain was a dry, desolate place. It was sad to see a planet with infertile soil and lack of easily obtainable nutrients. "I'd rather die than hunt. We don't have to worry about this at home. This would never be an issue on Jupiter. We would never have to scrounge around so hard for things to eat and drink. This is a horrible place to call home. Having to kill things like snakes to survive in such a manner is just outright cruel."

You don't know what you're speaking of." Rei remained calm. She didn't like it either, and although she was slightly offended, she felt just as out of place on other planets and as a result she didn't fault her taller acquaintance. "We need to be thankful that it has given its life so we may be fed. It may not be a wonderful thing to think about, but it is necessary. Your people do the same. They don't only eat vegetables and just because you as a princess don't have to hunt for your food, some of your people do. Never forget that. Your meals come cooked, and you know little of that animal's life. I know the food I eat, where it comes from, and what it suffered by my hand. I am the hunter and it is the hunted. No matter who does it, that animal gives its life, and it does not matter if it is by your hand or not. You must give thanks that it has provided you with what you need to survive. When you have to hunt and take a life, you learn very quickly that natural selection does exist, and it does happen. You learn the value of that life when you are force to take it by your own hand."

"How can you do that so willingly?" Makoto could cook, and loved to do it often, yet her food was already ready to be cooked. She didn't deal with the messy effects to prepare a meal. She never needed to hunt for herself and that had been a very rude awakening the past few days she had been here. Her voice softened. "You make it look so easy. I know you're a planet of war, I know you have different ways to live, and I know that you have a gut to deal with these types of things…" She trailed off, she missed home, she missed the storms, and mostly she missed being blissfully unaware of what other planets called normality. "But…" She couldn't continue. She didn't want to upset Rei, and she knew that the shorter girl had dealt with quite a lot having visited Jupiter the week before.

"It doesn't get any easier Makoto, regardless of what you may think." Rei handed a metal plate of food to the tall girl from Jupiter before fixing her own and taking a seat. "One thing we Martians learn, and most likely the one thing that is misunderstood about us, is the fact that we are a combative planet. We are much like you Makoto. We fight, we know battle well, but that does not make us as barbaric as we may look. We as a unity are a peaceful race, we don't like to kill. Be it a beast like a snake, or that of another planet, or even our own people it does not matter. We don't like to do it. Sure we do have our power hungry idiots, but every planet does. The only difference between our morals is the fact that we do what is needed and then move forward knowing that it had to be done. Your people dwell and feel guilt where none should be placed."

Rei could see the pained look in Makoto's eyes and even if the girl wasn't the best one to seek a comforting hand from, she would try her best. "That snake doesn't need to feel your remorse; it needs to feel your thanks and profound never ending respect that you are benefiting from its death. When we take a life in battle it is the same way, we must move on, understanding that it had to be done. Still, it does not mean we like to do it, or that we simply forget about it. We just handle our emotions differently. That's really the only difference we share." Her words were spoken as fact, her emotions withdrawn from the painful reality.

It was her way of showing her detachment, and perhaps in this way, her way, to show a deeper respect for her people and those around her. She would not feel anger for those she knew wouldn't understand. She would not show her tears for that which had to be done. Instead she would be neutral, her ability to be disciplined overriding her natural anger she may have felt for someone like Makoto. The brunette could both acknowledge and accept this as fact.

"What do you think the princess from Venus will do when she sees this?" Makoto asked aloud. The next trade off would result in Minako visiting Mars and in effect Rei having to deal with a woman who understood very little on violence at all, let alone to kill something to eat. "I know she wasn't altogether thrilled with the sparring she had to put up with on Jupiter, and I am sure she's never taken a life of an animal to eat it."

"I don't know." Rei smiled apologetically knowing Makoto was off to visit Pluto next. "But I'll warn you now, if you think this is bad, be mindful of Princess Setsuna and her mother Trista. Their home is a place that even I find to be a derelict. Trista is the queen of Pluto, but currently she resides at the gates of time. Setsuna is rather aloof and I found her to be a little cold. Since she has not married yet she hasn't been able to take the throne. You'd better watch out with her since I'm not sure what to think."

"She's the oldest out of all of us right?" Makoto wondered. "I know Minako was born around the same time we were, but from what I heard Setsuna had been around a lot longer." She continued to eat slowly, inwardly feeling the guilt Rei had told her not to be doing as she tried to forget what she had seen. "Minako was the first to visit her and she told me that Setsuna is really far older than she appears and that she comes from a slowly aging bloodline. From what I was told, she could, for all intents and purposes as far as age is concerned be our mother. What do you think?"

"Age wise?" Rei asked receiving a nod. "By that standard alone the answer is yes, but her body aged slowly too, and will continue to do so, really, she's no older than us if her life expectancy is taken into consideration. I hear Trista was around long before any of us were born, but that's just what I understand. It could be more or less a bunch of rumors since both of them are like a steel trap." She had finished her plate and placed it into a bucket with soapy water. "I couldn't get any secretive information out of either of them, and only generic responses if anything even protruded from their lips. Setsuna is so self-involved I'm actually worried about her."

"Are you sure it's really self involvement?" Makoto quirked an eyebrow confused. "Minako told me that she thought it was more the fact that she didn't think Setsuna knew how to open up to people, let alone trust them enough to get close to them emotionally. She has been alone for a long time, I know that much. Take it from me, it's not easy to be open when you don't know how, or feel as if you lost everything."

"You're open with me." It was more of a matter of fact statement, but anyone who really knew Rei, knew there was a question behind the vocal inflection. "I am, but I've known you all from since I was a little kid. I have learned to be open with you, but, we aren't kids anymore and now we are taking on more planetary responsibilities. Sooner or later we will need to find a suitor and ascend the throne ourselves. I'm just thankful that Mercury has the medical side of everything down pat. You know, it was a brilliant idea to finally complete the sperm cell project."

"Yeah, now explain that crazy one too me. I'm still lost by all of it." Rei sighed thinking of Ami and her abilities in fields that no one should dabble in, let alone be masters of. She was smart, but she was also eccentric in many ways that Rei couldn't grasp. Her planet wasn't primitive, but, it certainly wasn't a place founded on technology beyond a normal capacity. Walking supercomputers and robotic armed forces were only a small glimpse of what the planet of Mercury could wield. It was a great power, and also a great strength. Medicine was also a study founded deeply in the roots of such a culture and that made many of the other planets worried and interested in the raw power of the studies performed. "It's made from bones right?"

"Well, it's made from the bone marrow. Quite ingenious if I do say so myself. She says it's still highly unstable, but it is an ideal method if it can be done correctly. The way I understand it is that they extract bone marrow from you and do something too it, though I got lost in that explanation, and somehow it ends up sperm that can be used to fertilize an egg."

"That doesn't sound natural, but alright I guess." Rei sighed, outlandish was only the tip of the iceberg, and that was both a metaphorical view and a literal sense when one thought of the tendencies that Mercury had within its power. Freezing a planet so close to the sun was no small feat, and yet, here they were defying all realms of normal logic. "Then again, if logic and Ami mixed into a common logic situation, she would be walking in a pit of lava and flaming magma, not sitting pretty in a glistening land of ice and hard rock."

"Too true, too true." Makoto could agree with that sentiment perfectly. "Then again, defying basic logic seems to be Ami's specialty, but she also has enough of it left to counterbalance her nut ball ideas." As she stood to stretch and look at the darkness setting it she smiled lightly at the more obscure memories of their childhood. "I just hope she hasn't gone loony with Minako around her all week long, or dare I say, let's hope Minako stayed away from any odd glowing matter that she may find to be a toy."

"She isn't that bad you know." Rei frowned. Minako was flighty, but she wasn't an idiot. "Just because she likes to goof off a lot doesn't make her a bad person. She can be smart when she wants to be, she kept you out of trouble at the moon palace if you remember."

"It's not my fault I thought Usagi was a commoner. The way she was stuffing her face surely wasn't very royal like." That had been years ago, but looking back, Minako had always been a responsible person under that fun loving exterior. Perhaps that's why Rei had a stronger friendship with her than the other Senshi. Minako was a polar opposite in the way she presented herself, and yet she was much like Rei.

For both Rei and Minako duty and what must be done came before all else in her life, including their own happiness. Minako was just far more exuberant about seeking out other means of enjoying life. While Rei could be slightly pessimistic or perhaps even downright overbearing under extreme pressure, Minako was far more positive about even the most negative of situations. Offering encouragement and unconditional support in ways perhaps others would never be able. When Makoto reflected on these simple facts it made sense why Rei would be second in command once she took the throne and Minako would be first. "Still." Makoto continued. "It surprises me that she's so forgiving, both Minako and Usagi."

"That's just their way." Rei stated. "We all have our jobs and an order in rank. That is the way of a dutiful army. Minako will be the first from her planet to take a place as a leader among the Senshi. That is a great honor and as a result it is something we must be proud of. I know Father is displeased. In all honesty, I am happy to know I'll be able to be told what to do, barking orders isn't easy. I can admit I'm not the best leader for combat, but you and I are the two strongest. The order is actually one of the first in galactic history I'll have you know. We are going to be wonderful Senshi, and top notch queens, but for that to happen we need to take the steps to learn now."

Rei had been born and raised to know her job above all else. To be wise on the battlefront was only part of that. Another large part was to know one's place in the grand scheme of the universe and all that it entailed. "We all have areas to improve. Although we may not like it, our planets hold the tools for leaning right on the ground we stand as each respective race. Our homes are all very different but we managed to be friends as children. In my eyes that's all that matters. In a few days you'll be free from this place that I know you think of as a hell hole and I think of as home. Minako will come here and you'll see what I found to be the worst place in this galaxy thus far. I don't think there is much more difficulty to this situation than that. Minako was the first of us to know that, the first one to make sure we grew the friendships needed for this to be possible now. I know regardless of what she learns here she will be a leader that will help Usagi further the Kingdom and lead us, as warriors to greatness one day."

Rei sounded so sure of those facts that Makoto found comfort in the spoken words. Life of peace was nice, but as warriors they had to be ready. Small civil wars broke out a lot, and although none were really worth mentioning most did cause issues among the other planets. Strong leaders with strong bonds prevented this from happening. Life was more of less matter of fact for these girls. They had their paths chosen for them already, and these paths had been placed upon them at birth. Some things had been changed from the norm and other things were something they wanted to fight to avoid at all cost, yet no matter where each girl stood, all had a price to pay. A cost that would be dear to all of them.

Simply accepting other planets and understanding the way of life was one of these prices. There were many more down the road. Prices of love, devotion, time, energy, blood, sweat, and tears were only things spoken and yet very little was actually understood by them as of the moment. They were still teenage girls, with all of emotions that one would carry, but, beyond that they were princesses who carried a larger burden than anyone else of their planet.

This was the truth and it was only now, in the extremes of another planet that the true weight of decisions they faced settle squarely and solely on them. This was their burden, this was their truth, and this sometimes stressful life was one of many things they would knowingly pay. Unflinchingly they would walk the paths expected of them. Without batting an eye they would let go of all personal hatred for a planet and values they frowned upon. They would learn and do things the rivaled and outright obliterated any and all moral codes they had learned as children if only to better understand others. In the end they put their takes before their own happiness, and all the while they knew, this was the price if being a princess.

TBC if I get feedback telling me to do so!

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Since I am hoping for feedback on this I want to refrain from updating unless I have at least 10 reviews telling me what they think and if I should continue. Even if you have negative things to say, go ahead and say them, I WANT feedback. Even if all you say is that you wish for me to not continue this, let me know why. This is only a prologue to give you a taste and see if you even have an interest. Minako and Rei will be the main pairing later on; I do promise you that, I just didn't want to start any pairing from the beginning since I want to work on actually building a character background. Let me know how you feel, and what you think. I would REALLY like to know.

Edit 1- Broke up some of the larger wall-o-text that was mentioned by Whirlwind of Flames and Love. Thank you for pointing out said wall-o-text. My computer doesn't register it like that since I use a very large font. An oversight on my part for forgetting to fix the font in the view window to be sure it wasn't hard to read.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I've decided to continue, so here is the second chapter. (I blame a particular friend for poking me for over an hour until I sat at my computer.)

I do not own Sailor Moon. I am merely a fan.

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Chapter 1: Last Day in the Land of Ice.

Minako sighed heavily as she welcomed the warmth of one small fireplace. Sources of heat were few and far between. Not that Minako would mind cool weather, normally she loved snow. This fact was quite the contrary on days when she was forced to spend hours in an ice blizzard. The people of Mercury were that of advancement. They could do anything they wanted with computers, or at the very least, they could try. This was one of the reasons Minako had come to visit the home of a good friend and fellow princess. Ami was the extraordinaire out of the group. She was smart, tactful, and beyond the point of eccentric. The term egghead came to mind for anyone who merely heard of the girl. It would be funny to note how wrong they were once they saw through the naturally intelligent surface.

Ami was a girl that was mousy and shy. Her preferred companion was a book, or one of the inner city guards she had known from being a child. Constantly with adults instead of those her own age, Ami had found herself to have more mature tastes in everything she did. She had an overtly tranquil demeanor making the young woman hard to talk too when it came to boys, makeup, or any other thing a person of normal intellect would show an interest in. Ami's hobbies were that of reading, technology, and the occasional scientific experiment. The latter were often the cause of her more troublesome ways growing up.

Minako smiled back on a few fond memories of such a situation. The blond would be busy, sneaking away of the mindful eyes of the adults to find a friend to play with. She would scream and yell providing noisy havoc with dolls galore. Generally she wound up making the lives of those around her a living disaster area with the way she found the need to liven things up. Often Usagi and Makoto aided in such escapades, much to the dismay of Rei who was often dragged along inadvertently. Ami wasn't like them, she was different. She was so far out of what she should have been as a child.

Many reasons could state the why of it. One of the overtly obvious issues was how Ami attracted trouble. Unlike her friends who either made a three ring circus out of a formal gathering, or, innocently annoyed the guards, Ami found a more sophisticated and yet very destructive means. Science experiments led to small fires or explosions. Tinkering with robots and computers often led to dismantling them without the ability to know how to put it back together. Then you had the age old way of getting the entire group into trouble when Minako pressured the shy girl into tinkering with any security camera before a group escapade began.

Looking back the latter one happened most likely due to wanting to fit in. It was something that was very apparent now, but at the time eluded all of them except for Ami herself. Minako never really understood why until this week. It was finally drawing to a close, but she had been rudely awakened to the actual environment and how much it differed from her own. Things were kept sterile and tidy. While in one way it established a healthy environment, it also proved for an odd experience when trying to find solace. Things weren't plush, cleanliness favoring comfort.

The sounds of metal and constant noise kept the entire planet eerie. Not scary parse, yet highly unsettling. It wasn't something that Minako could say she was fond of, yet for someone like Ami this place was not only home, it was a haven. It was a safety that not many would understand. Minako could hear what sounded like another device. This one must have been some type of computer and by the sounds of it, the user wasn't Ami.

Minako put her hands in her thick pockets and walked down the hall where a woman sat with her legs crossed softly typing at the panel before her. Forest green eyes showed a level of concentration, but she wasn't adept like Ami. Astuteness wasn't a strong suit Zoisite could say she owned. In fact even if she was highly advanced for that of a general of earth, it was highly unlikely she would ever match the intelligence of a true blooded Mercian.

The woman saw royalty before her and quickly stood to bow. Minako was of a higher class than any lowly solider of earth could be in the eyes of most. The only non Senshi to stand on equal ground was Mamoru and he was bound to marry Princess Usagi. His generals would each marry a girl from the inner guard. Zoisite had been keen to date Ami; however there was one key flaw in such a plan. Zoisite was indeed a woman, the only woman of then inner generals to be precise. That was why the sperm cell research has been put underway. Since an heir would ultimately have to be produced sooner or later if the two did join in a union.

"Please don't do that." Minako begged as she rolled her eyes flopping down on a metal bench, Zoisite was sure to dutifully follow her. "Must you guys do that every time one of us walks into a room?" Minako was slightly peeved at the continuous devotion. "I'm not made of glass you know."

"It is our job Princess Minako. I must follow protocol." Eyes were bowed in respect as Zoisite awaited a proper order; she wouldn't receive one as Minako tugged her to the bench.

"Order one." Minako smiled lightly. "Stop wigging out and relax." She said as she took on a playful air. "Order two: pretend I'm not a princess and call me Minako like a normal living being." The still smiling blond looked around curiously at all the electronics and random devices. "Are you here alone or is Ami buried in those robot parts?"

"Neither." Zoisite smirked for a moment. "She's in the lab poking at your so called "blobs" again." That earned her a swat on the arm.

"They are blobs. They aren't sperm, and I wouldn't call it bone marrow anymore, so it's a blob." Minako defended as her eyes fell to the computer and the graphs on it. "I take it you were left to reset the planets system for blast freezing this place into a Popsicle?"

"You got it." Zoisite sighed as she stood taking her curly hair out of the band she had it wrapped in to keep it from her face. The cold in the room attracted static electricity, and that was one thing both women hated. "After that I have to rebuild the atmospheric layers to help stabilize the planet. Daunting though it may be I must complete it shortly."

"At least you speak in ways I understand." Minako fidgeted in her seat as her necklace glimmered slightly with her planet and her intended stone of recognition. The piece was extravagant, beauty in all of its glory. Heera, the planetary gemstones were that of Diamonds. Beautiful and expensive it was cultivated on her planet for her people. "Diamonds don't suit me well do they?" A casual question, even if she knew the answer, provided idle banter at the very least.

The piece was of wonderful recognition to her closeness in the moon; some diamonds were known to have discolorations if not that of purity. Light blue hues, or red, and even yellow hues were found on her planet. Some had white dots and impurities, and others held black impurities. Not all were made to be equal, and not all were worn by the same class of people. Indeed that was one thing Minako had learned early on. She was of royalty. She was to be shown reverence for the very ground she stood on if nothing else. In all reality she hated to be viewed that way even if she did allow herself a rare moment of vanity here and there.

"Princess Minako, surely you are mistaken." A lighter voice wafted from the door as a princess donned in the most refined and simple cloth dress made her way to greet her old friend. "You're gem is that for the ruler of Venus, in fact that very stone was chosen by the first ruler of you planet many long years ago. It would be undue for you to cast yourself aside from your family and its heritage." Ami was always respectful, even when she was lightly chiding someone. Very few times could anyone break her from such a controlled and refined personality.

"Indeed, a beautiful stone for a planet such as yours." Zoisite smiled in agreement. "You're planet is refined. Nothing is to be wrong with such a thing. Diamonds with a red or yellow hue or tinge is said to be beneficial and auspicious for kings, political leaders, and occasionally administrators. I have often seen those to wed Martians or that of Jovian heritage wear them with pride. The first great king of Mars had married from your people you know." Zoisite was keen to know the background of each stone.

"That is affirmative, but, Zoisite forgot to mention that the Diamond of yellow hue showers victory and prosperity and that is why those of Uranus may find it suitable if you court one of their people. Also, the Diamond having a white hue is appropriate for religious, social and spiritual works. I know this is one often used on the Moon as a unity and you also wear one yourself along with all of the other colors. The Diamond is well suited for wishes of hope to those wishing to birth a child. Also it unifies the planets Minako. Do not forget that."

"You forgot the one that I do not wear." Minako sighed looking at a Diamond that while she wished she could place upon her breast with the others that shimmered along her neckline, she wasn't allowed. It was not her place and it was not of her stature. "I'll never be able to wear it."

When Zoisite gave a questioning look Ami filled in the missing gap in communication. "She is referring to the Diamond of black hue. It is only suitable for people who are engaged in inferior jobs or professions. It is frowned upon in most of the society since only those of limited means should wear one. Minako, feels it is her job to bear one as a symbol of her people, however it would degrade her status and thus she is unable." Her eyes turned to the small stone in Minako's hand. It wasn't an ugly color, but among the other brighter ones it would be a dark cloud very few would want to see a woman of Minako's magnificence wear.

"Do not feel badly Minako. The stone in your hand is not only for such dark times. Women desiring birth of sons should wear an unblemished white Diamond having a slight black hue to the overall color; this proves that it is not always seen as a bad thing. The wearer of the gemstone Diamond is foretold to be protected from the bad influences of evil spirits and snakebites among other taboos. This is why Mars believes it has a level of healing properties. Some planets also fear it for the many ritual beliefs, but, overall, your stone is that of diversity. Very few of the other planets can be seen wearing a gem as diverse in meaning as you do. That is why you are of Venus. You are of emotion before logic and thus you are to be praised that such a stone has such great power over many."

"With such great power you make me sound like some type of goddess or something." Minako sighed looking squarely at Ami. "Can't I just be a normal girl just this once?" Surely that had been the one thing Minako had attempted to attain, always failing in her distaste for such raw power over her people. "A leader stands too her people because she must, not out of being praised. Can't I be a leader and still be like the normal community?"

"Negatively speaking, I do not see how you could go about that." Ami knew Minako very well. It was the blond before her that while very childish was only exhibiting such the manner so she could be as close to the common community within her age range. The need to act out was a direct issue due to having so many responsibilities that Minako, as of her current status, felt unready to fully take on.

"Positively speaking, no one on your planet expects you to be of common blood. You are a princess, and that of royalty. No one expects you to be equal to them." Her eyes looked to Zoisite, compassion along with barely contained personal aggravation in the features of all the women made it clear they disagreed with the rules on standing. All planets had a level of code that was somewhat offensive.

Ami was much like Minako. She didn't want spotlight, but, she did want acceptance. Her plight confused her; emotions weren't a strong point Ami had. She had always done what she felt would be best for all involved. This time would be no different as she further analyzed the situation. Her emotions cracked through the meaningful surface, although it was only slightly. "Neutrally speaking, we are what we are. Our paths have been given to us as both an order and a privilege. What we will become has yet to be foretold, we are doing the best we can. At the end of the day, that is all anyone can ask us to do."

"What if my best isn't good enough? What if I want to be better than that?" Minako looked at Ami's stone, one that was a beautiful green. "Emerald rules your planet as far as a stone goes. What does it mean for you." Minako knew the basics of each gem and the power it held, however the more importance purposes eluded her highly.

"The gem is called Budah, or as you call it, an emerald, is considered to be an exceedingly auspicious gemstone for all. It tells of good health and a strong body if the wearer owns one in good condition. Apart from this, it also makes the wearer wise and intelligent. It increases riches and property of the wearer and blesses the native with children likely in good health and intellect as well. It is to be believed it will save you from poisonous snakes and protect us from evil, although, no other planets see that is a proper use." Zoisite started, although she wasn't sure how to continue.

Ami picked up where the general had left off, being sure to state more facts about the personal beliefs. "Among my people, it is also considered beneficial for good eyesight. A mother about to give birth often will wear one in hopes of a safe and painless delivery, although that is the more ritual belief behind it." Ami had pride for her simple broach and symbol of her native planet. It was a wondrous color, and very beautiful. "You know, you will be visiting the planet of Mars next, and Rei. You do know the meaning of her gem, right?"

Minako shook her head. Ami was far superior in studying such things, and as a result she knew more about the way the galaxy worked in general. Minako, for as much as she loved to talk late into the night was becoming worried about the trip to the planet known among her people as a possessive place to live. "I plan to ask her that personally when I see her." Her mind remained allowed to wander; the computers would be left behind for basic equipment. The cold would be replaced with heat. Her best friend would be at her side, but that didn't mean she wasn't without worry. "Although, I'm not all together sure I want to really go to her planet. I've heard the rumors."

"Yes, we all have. You should know Rei isn't anything like that. She's not blood thirsty, and she hasn't forced herself onto anyone. She's nothing like what people say, and having visited personally I can attest that you have nothing to fear, well, except her manner of cooking." Ami grimaced at that thought. Most of their food was dealt with by flash freezing it. Provision amounts weren't an issue, and most of the time one could supplement daily needs with vitamin injections and liquid supplements cultivated for just such a problematic situation as needing to sustain on another planet. "That could bring truth to the barbaric bit." She really wished Rei wouldn't have made her eat the fauna. Ami always carried supplement injections for that very reason.

"Do I want to know what you're talking about?" A blond eyebrow raised in confusion as Zoisite snickered remembering the events of Ami's first hunt.

"Put it this way, I'm glad I'm not squeamish about anatomization." Blood was a natural thing, as was basic anatomy. Both of these things were something Ami knew about, and, as someone who toyed in such a field when it came to advancing medicine, she didn't mind dealing with it on a daily basis. Yes, she was a very easily intimidated girl about a few things, but, not about things along the lines of bodily situations. Ami had forced Rei to end its probability of suffering before she even began to learn how to prepare a dish.

Minako nodded dumbly, she could get the basic idea and didn't really want an explanation on it. "I think that's what makes you two similar." She allowed a smile to don her face as Ami looked on confused by the admission. Zoisite had seen it clearly and nodded while listening to the given explanation. Ami hadn't thought herself similar to Rei at all, but then again, Minako was always ahead of the game as far as emotional standing.

"Rei and you have a stomach for that. You do it on a medical level, but I know you've cut into others to treat them when they're ill, or, to remove something causing issues. Makoto and I can't do that. She makes a great chef, but she could never act as a butcher. As much as I care about those around me I'd never be able to eat something I've personally hunted. Neither of us could put a life on our shoulders like the two of you do. It may be for very different reasons, but you both do it. We would never do that. It would be too much to handle."

Ami looked quizzical at that. Confused. Wondering about possible other similarities most likely. There were many. Both Rei and Ami had a level of withdrawn behavior. Both of them were disciplined. Both could calculate quickly in times of a crisis. Planning came first no matter what. Be it a mentality trained and hardened for fierce battle, or, that of precision and perfection it didn't matter. Both of them had the skills, the strength on varying levels.

Rei could take down opponents Ami was unable. Controversially, although Rei knew how to treat a wound from a fight, she would never compare to the proper training that Ami had within her grasp. Both could compute a strategy, but Ami was more adept at the overall situation, while Rei could focus best on the frontlines. These were only a few basic similarities that both made Ami and Rei equals while also setting them apart from the rest of their friends and allies.

"Anyway, I know I'll most likely see things I don't want to see, but then again it can't be as bad as what you do inside the lab." Minako's face contorted remembering some of the things she had seen. Humanoid blood was the least of what had gone on and there wasn't any possible way hunting on Mars could be any worse than that. "I'll be taking my leave tomorrow I guess."

Everyone nodded as a calm silence took over. More visits to planetary rotations would occur. It was only a matter of time before Minako would reach the dusty sands she was so unsure of. More lessons would come her way, and afterward Rei would visit Venus. All in all it was a confusing time. As close as they were this was the first time they would see how the other lived. Minako was apprehensive and perhaps a little excited. She would enjoy the cold now while she could. Time was counting down until she would feel the real heat of her situation. Mars wasn't a nomadic place for survival alone, and tomorrow Minako would find out exactly why that was.

TBC-

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Leave feedback about what you think. It would be greatly appreciated.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Hey guys, I have finally gotten around to writing another update. A good question was posed, and I feel like I should do a quick explanation before we get started.

In regards to stones and the inability to match up, in fact they do more so than it may look. I picked the stones that ruled the planets, not transformation stones. You'll also see, as given in the banter between characters that these gemstones hold properties. All of those beliefs for each gem, and the ones in further chapters, are from my research on varying mythologies and what a common belief is as a total. The birth stones represent a month, but not the deity as a ruler. Since this is a time of peace you most likely will not see a transformation at all, so, these stones are for formality sake.

Ami is a prominent example. She wears emerald, ironically, what is Jupiter's aura? It is green. The reason that it rules Mercury comes from many backgrounds, but from an anime perspective it still fits simply under the pretense that Jupiter protects that of Mercury. You'll also note that I use official names for these stones due to some beliefs as well as the more common names we can know them by. I have not used all the beliefs of the stones, since there are differing views that aren't commonly used among them as well. I tried to use the most generic and common examples and as the fiction builds you'll see more of these little types of eccentricities. (Just another way to keep this from turning into Mary-sue galore, though simplistic as it is, it's effective.)

I do not own Sailor Moon. I am merely a fan and nothing more.

Chapter 2: Casual Days with People of Mars.

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It had surprised Minako greatly to see Rei among many other people. None of them were properly dressed to be royal guard and there weren't any homes large enough to be called a palace. Most of them weren't even homes at all. Barely there, flimsy material, were placed up for the night. Rei too was in a hut of similar means. The blond was up for a rude awakening when she learned that this would be the camp for tonight at the very least.

"I knew your people were nomadic but come on; the hard ground can't be good for you." She looked around, there wasn't even a bottom and the sand was exposed. "Or anyone else for that matter? Aren't there snakes here?"

"There are lots of things here. Snakes, scorpions, sometimes you'll come across a hard shelled bug or two. We have lots of animals even if it doesn't look like it. Bats are common as are a bunch of different types of lizards, and we do see the occasional fox or two. As far as sleeping on the ground goes, the reason is that the sand cools down at night. Around here we'd rather be cold for a few hours then walk around with sunburn all day long."

"Why do you guys move around so much anyway? It doesn't seem like a good idea." Minako sat on a nearby crate that had netting over it. Obviously it wasn't one moved around often as sand found purchase inside grooves that it most likely shouldn't have. "Neither is you running around without some type of guard with you."

"Normally my father and I travel in our own small group. However, he and that group are away to help the forces of Uranus and Neptune train in Martian combat arts. From what I understand it is part of the new galactic treaty. It doesn't matter though since this is part of Martian code. Only the strong survive out here. If you're our age you travel alone a lot. I happened to join up with this group because Makoto was having issues without a large clan around her." Rei recalled the incident with a level of distaste.

Martians traveled in small family groups, or loners built large caravans for safety and to help with the tasks needed to live. In the end though, most of her race could live on their own if they absolutely had too. The Martians were the only race known to be able to live a solitary life as a nomad. Others, like that of Jupiter could choose to be nomadic if they wanted, however it was out of choice due to the plentiful food and water. Either way, Rei had joined up out of a need to keep Makoto safe, not due to wanting to be social.

"Why though, I know it's a basic need, but why are people constantly breaking off or reforming their social circle?" Minako wondered as she looked at the thin material Rei had willingly called a dwelling. "I know even my people are nomadic to a degree, but that's rare. We have cities and an actual place to call home should we want one."

"Well," Rei started offhandedly. "It's more to prevent family circles becoming too large, and also, family members need to produce children one day." She added with a smirk. "You can't exactly do that with each other if no one splits apart." She stood up and dusted herself off. "Come with me, and I'll show you what I mean about trading off." Minako nodded and out into the dusty world they went. Night hadn't fallen quite yet as many people prepared to settle in.

Even the smallest of children had a task. Little ones helped the adults put away things that had been used for supper or washed clothing with water canisters. Other older children helped to put up the tents and put out the cooking fires. Gender didn't seem to matter, all working as a unity, all doing the same types of hard work. 'Only the strong survive.' A Martian motto indeed Minako quickly took note.

"As you can see, the kids even do their part within a family, as a community they work as a unit if help is needed. However, your family is still your responsibility. Safety in numbers only works if everyone pulls their own weight. If you have a blood related family member in a clan, that member comes first before all else. We may help each other, but, we do not call everyone family." Rei saw a few smaller children trying to put together a tent alone until a few other adults, her and Minako included, came to their aid.

The tent was pitched, fresh water and food was offered to the kids. New clothing was found and it was clear that the children were grateful. Then a meeting was held between the eldest child and the adults. The child was called leader for those children and an agreement had been made. He was allowed to stay, as were the others with him. It was odd to Minako, seeing an inner circle so demanding of a child and after an agreement had been reached everyone dispersed as if it had never taken place.

"What was that about? You guys are being kind of hard on the little guy." Minako looked at the newly pitched tent and the children that would now call this clan home. "Aren't you expecting a little much asking him to father those other children, he's child himself." She looked back at the kids again. "What is he, like, nine? How can you expect that?"

"I know it looked harsh." Rei said slowly. She knew how bad it was on those kids, but here they would be safe at the very least. "However, they had been on their own before. Here, if they work, they will be fed and taken care of. That boy is the eldest child, those are his siblings, and he will answer for them. In return, they will be taught how to live and care for themselves. I can't say we are the nicest of people, but we are some of the strongest because of how we live. As you can see, that boy knew of what would be expected of him; however, he also knows that here he will be provided safety, food, and shelter. All he has to do in return is show his ability to learn and provide for his family. We asked no more of him than any other clan, and, with this clan he has a fighting chance."

"But I thought you said individual families come first." Minako now became worried. "They won't forget about those kids will they?"

"No." Rei's answer was assured. "We are family first, others later. This is true, but, we do not cast aside those who cannot fend on their own. They will need to earn their keep, but, it will be within reason. Just like all of the other children, it doesn't matter who you are, you must learn how to take care of yourself. If you notice, those boys are strong, there is only one small girl in that mix, and males are often welcome to be trained. Even if we do let women do what many would call a man's work it is preferred to have dominant men who can help lend a hand. We are prideful people, and as such, both strong men and women are cultivated into powerful warriors. Should our planet fall under attack, every one of us can fight, and that makes us a very formidable foe."

"Well, you do come from the planet of war after all." Minako wasn't sure if it was the finality in the way Rei spoke, but she seemed far more serious on her planet than other places. Idly she mentally questioned a few things. One was a matter of wondering why Rei wasn't being seen as a figure of high standing. Another was that if this planet ever did go to war, she worried how much destruction they could cause to any planet. The gem Rei carried was another, and, the final was the actual galactic treaty and what role this planet took in it. She started simply; she could find more out later. "Rei, about your planet…why is it that no one has shown you any form of recognition for being a princess of your people?"

"That is simple really, I'm not a figurehead. Points of power aren't broadcast and as a result, they would only know me if I was the actual ruler as my father is. If I was at his side they may acknowledge me as his daughter, but in their eyes I am no more than they are. I am also no less. I am expected to do well, and, just as my father before me, lead my planet for the better. We are a strong proud race. Praise will not come to me until I earn my right for such a thing. That will not come from being a princess alone."

"Sound pretty rough in my eyes." Minako never saw Mars to be a planet of such emotional pride. It was one of power, but Rei spoke with such a deep pride for who they were. It wasn't pride in herself, but pride in her people as a whole, and, pride for her father. "Isn't your dad kind of…well, abusive? At least that is what I hear." The look Rei gave was questioning, almost imploring on what Minako was referring too. "You know, I heard he hit you as a kid. I know he used to yell at you a lot." At that, Rei gained understanding and chuckled at the poor excuse of what others seemed to think abuse was.

"He may seem that way, but no." Rei thought about it. "He's not that type of man to harm me like you're thinking." The man was the type who yelled for the smallest fault, but, he wasn't hateful. He hadn't ever struck her outside of battle practice. In the eyes of many it would seem brash, but, that was Martian way. Strict family life wasn't unheard of and was quite normal. As rude as it could look, even borderline abusive, mostly it was just due to the fact that Martian families, no matter the head of the household, didn't take well to back talking.

For Rei her upbringing was especially daunting due to whose daughter she was, but in no manner would she have claimed it abusive. "We have pride in our families, we don't mistreat them. We live a strict lifestyle, what must be done comes before games and play. Parents teach their children to fight, and, if a parent ever does strike a child, that would be why. Never would we do it out of anger, or try to really hurt them. We do not go soft on them though, they need to learn properly. Sometimes injuries happen, but, one has got to expect that a bit when learning how to use a blade."

She gestured around her. Many older children and younger adults sported some type of bruise or scar. A few smaller children had scrapes, but they weren't the type caused by a sword or malice. "We don't hold back after a child reaches an age that allows them to learn combat correctly. If you are of age, that is to say, if you are that a girl becoming a woman, or a boy becoming a man, you learn what it means to know full arms combat. The smaller ones often see adults' fight and are eager to do the same. If a child does get hurt and they aren't of age, you can bet that it was from a fight with another child or a playing injury. Abuse is rare out in these parts."

Minako nodded slowly. Rei wouldn't lie about that. Rei rarely lied about anything pertaining to children, and she would never lie about that in particular. Rei led back into the tent, the first day was only the arrival and much still had to be learned. Nightfall was a time for sleep and Rei dedicated as much. Minako, came from a place nightlife existed and as a result didn't understand the real meaning of sun up and sun down. She would tomorrow though, Rei knew that much. Getting up at the crack of dawn wasn't easy if you weren't used to it. "If you won't go to sleep at least talk while lying down." The raven admonished lightly.

"I don't want to be bitten by anything." Minako had whimpered that about three times in the past five minutes.  
"You won't." This was getting old. Everyone feared snakes, bugs, or otherwise. "Why not the things worth being fearful of, like running out of supplies?"  
"Will we?" Minako wasn't used to this, being frightened was now starting to set in. "I don't want to die out here Rei. Will we run out? Tell me, honestly."  
"No, it's a figure of speech." Rei explained calmly. "However, it's more likely than getting bitten. Just don't poke at things like Makoto did."

"But what if I roll over in my sleep? What if I make something mad? Rei please, I'm scared… I don't want to sleep. I don't want to lay in the sand and I want to stay right here on this box. You can sleep, I'll be alright. I promise. But don't make me sleep next to the sand." She was shaking, and Rei could see that. Minako was honestly, truly, afraid of actually getting attacked by something.

"Oh for the… Minako..." Rei got off of the cloth she had been laying on and went over to the whimpering blond. "Come here you…" Martian dominance won over this round as Rei picked Minako up and carried her over to the cloth. She laid Minako on top of her own body. "Ok, see? Nothing will get you while on me that couldn't already get on that box in the first place." Inwardly she groaned. She knew she was going bake with Minako on top of her like this. Never mind how it could appear to others. Rei wanted to sleep and wanted it now. "Besides, they are most likely more fearful of you than you are of them. They are lower on the food chain after all."

"Why didn't you leave me on the box?" Minako asked confused. Even more was another question. Minako was of a planet where this would become very interesting if Rei was such a type. "Also, you do remember I'm not Martian right? I'm from Venus. Do you really want me here?" It was confusing, and Minako didn't know if Rei really wanted what was being implied.

Rei cracked on eye open long enough to look at the blond carefully. Rei wasn't stupid or horny, she was tired, and there was a difference. "Minako, I'm fully aware that in your mind I'm making a pass at you, but if that were so, you'd be under me and I would be taking the upper hand." She smiled lightly, as if to comfort her. "And, I pulled you off the box because you're scared. I am Martian, and, we look out for families, but also others. It would not do well to leave you, a frightened woman under my watch, alone all night long to be scared. I know what you're thinking, I know you're worried, but being possessive, and being downright forceful are two very different things. You of all people know that, so go to sleep and let me do the same."

Rei closed her eyes again and Minako fidgeted a moment and then opened her mouth to speak "I'll just go back over to the-" Her words were cut off.

"Sleep Minako." Rei growled. "I've got you in my arms, but that's all you are, in my arms. Now…Go…Too…Sleep…" Rei's hold was strong, but not overbearing. The blond wasn't going to be given a choice, she would have to endure six more nights of this, and the sooner she got over the fear of sand, the better off she would be. Rei knew this fact, and, that's was why she was pushing this so hard. If there had been any doubt in her mind that Minako would be unsafe, Rei, being the possessive and prideful Martian she was, would have eradicated the threat before hand. Minako would not be hurt under her watch, of that, Rei would be sure.

TBC-

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Short little chapter, hope you liked it. More will be up when I get a chance. Please leave a review and let me know how I'm doing.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Hey guys, I know this is a Silver Millennium fan fiction and it will remain predominately so. However, there will be occasions when we take a visit to the present day or even the further down the line Crystal Tokyo? Why is this? Simple, it is merely due to the fact that since this is a character analysis fan fiction, I want to branch all areas possible. Days that do not contain past events are often in the eyes of one of the Senshi for some reason (Ex. Time gates, awakening memories, reflection in a mirror, and you get the idea.) when this happens it will only last one chapter, and as a result, will be mainly first person view.

This is the first chapter I will attempt this with. Please tell me your view on this since this is an experimental idea at best. Time jumps within this chapter. There is a good chance it will be confusing, this was intended, as you are supposed to see through in the eyes of Rei.

Song: Desert Rose.  
Sung By: Sting.

_Song Lyrics in Italics._  
Normal story is normal font.

I do not own Sailor Moon.

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Chapter 3: From the Eyes of Flames.

~~~~~Present Day: Before Usagi's arrival~~~~~

I sit here in my miko garb wondering why it's so unusually hot today. The fire is scorching, perhaps even calling to me….why? I can't say. I can't say I understand. These visions of her are causing me confusion. I do not know her…correction…I do not know them. Will I? I am not sure. My dreams say things like warrior, combat, art. Many things plague me. Why I do not know. Things speak to me, dreams I wish I knew. A language I should not understand screams in my mind. Yes, I know what it means. I shouldn't be able to know, but, somehow I do.

_[Cheb Mami Introduction (Algerian Arabic):]__  
Hadaee mada tawila  
Wa ana nahos ana wahala ghzalti  
Wa ana nahos ana wahala ghzalti  
Wa ana nahos ana wahala ghzalti  
__[English translation for the above:]__  
Oh night oh night  
It has been a long time  
And I am looking for myself and my loved one  
And I am looking for myself and my loved one  
And I am looking for myself and my loved one_

Why am I searching through these feelings? This is just a dream after all. Dreams. The one issue that engulfs me fully. What are they…and…why is a girl in them? Why does she find my thoughts? Why do they find my dreams? She smiles and I want to smile too. She cries and I wake up, tears in my eyes too. I have seen a lot that I cannot explain.

Why am I here? Is it a foretold prophecy? Damnation to a hell that many scriptures speak of? No, it cannot be that. I smile too much to have been forsaken. Perhaps a place I once was… I cannot say, I do not know. I fear to know. Why do these visions call to me now? Why am I here in this shrine instead of the place in my visions?

Is it something I caused? Did I do something wrong? Am I someone more than just a miko? I wish this fire could speak words tangible to my spirit. I want to know this girl; I want to know these people. I want to know more. Anything more that you offer me to know fire…anything…something…just tell me.

_I dream of rain  
I dream of gardens in the desert sand  
I wake in vain  
I dream of love as time runs through my hand_

I grasp the salt in my hand. More herbs, more mixes, more wishes, more question. None are fully answered. Not a single face completely shown. No voice speaks; no full retort to my response has cleared the fog in my mind. I see things there, me perhaps, dancing happily in a rare moment. I don't know way I'm happy. It's just water, nothing more, nothing less. I don't seem thirsty, but yet, the rain seems to be something to bring me joy. I want to know why fire. Show me why. Please. I look the same as I am now. I am the same age, but, how can I be there and here? Is it a memory or, a vision of what is to come? Quell my fears, please…. Guide me fire….

_I dream of fire  
Those dreams are tied to a horse that will never tire  
And in the flames  
Her shadows play in the shape of a man's desire_

I do not understand these visions. A warm oasis, skies of red, sands that burn my feet. It is so substantial, so very real. I know it can't be though, if it was I would see who she is. I would understand why she is here. These visions, what are they. Why do they insist on running rampant within my mind? Why do they seek me to ask the fire so much?

I move constantly. I don't stay put. Why not? What is here in these red sands that cause me to move? Why do I do it willingly? The girl comes back, I feel happy. I don't understand. Do I love her? Does she love me? No. I am a Miko. I am taught to be disciplined. I need poise and elegance, and to marry a man, to be a wife. This is my path. This shrine…is my home...that is my only truth. I cannot let these imaginings get the best of me. These fearful sins are not mine to carry. But then…why does declaring that hurt so much?

_This desert rose  
Each of her veils, a secret promise  
This desert flower  
No sweet perfume ever tortured me more than this_

Am I casing aside something important? Someone? She laughing, she's smiling; I want to hear more of that laughter. I wish to feel, to understand. But, I am a woman; destined to live with a man. So, why is it this girl intrigues me so? My dreams tell me of her, my ethics let me feel something towards her. Am I to be something not preordained? To carry a sword, am I such that I have taken a life? Fire; explain to me what I cannot clarify to myself. Is she a woman who will save me? Will she protect me? Will I protect her?

Combat. I dream of destruction. Tell me why. Why do I see death? WHY FIRE!

Show me what I want to know. Teach me fire. Show me what it is that haunts me so much...that's all I'm asking. That is all I'm begging. I want to feel whatever it is I feel in my dreams. I feel happy. Joyful. Peaceful. Please let me understand. It cannot be all bad. It cannot be all pain. I'm too happy, I'm too calm. There must be more, these dreams must speak of a story. So…tell me… tell me your story. Rather, tell me my story.

_And as she turns  
This way she moves in the logic of all my dreams  
This fire burns  
I realize that nothing's as it seems_

I see the children. I see myself as a child, others around me. Is this me? It should be me…I will consider it me. The girls are younger. They are happy. They play, they become scolded. I don't know why, but, I miss this. I miss them…

I miss her.

We grow, I know we grow, but…is it into what I saw? That person in that wasteland…is that me? Am I such a hateful, spiteful person? Have I taken a life? That of many? I feel pride, I see honor, but, am I such a detestable person? Will I do this? Can I do this? Have I done this? It's muddled. I'm confused fire. I do not understand.

I can see that I am fighting. I can see pure destruction. I feel as if I was moments away from death. Then…time becomes frozen…as if it has restarted. I do not remember anything past a blinding white light. I felt protective warmth. I know something happened after, but, what? Was that a life of a past? I have heard such beliefs. I am a shrine maiden now, but, perhaps, long ago I was a part of an imperial army or something. Perhaps this girl was the one I had to protect? If that were so, then why was I so casual? Was that what I had wished? Was it mental delusion?

I have seen things fire, you have shown me much. Yet, you haven't answered me. I know I must find my own answers, but, please fire, please guide me. Please help me. Teach, care, protect. Please. Why do I feel so calm in such heat? Such a raging inferno. I may never know. I guess time will move on, and so will my life. I'll be back later. Please, welcome me again soon…dear...fire….

_I dream of rain  
I dream of gardens in the desert sand  
I wake in vain  
I dream of love as time runs through my hand_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Days later…  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Days have passed onward since that day. I think…I know what I saw…I think I may be starting to understand. I hit a girl in the head today. She looked like my dream, now I see her face when I sleep at night. Moon Princess…we must find her…was that the girl…was she the one who made me laugh? Was she the one that called me in my visions? This Usagi girl, she is not the one. She could never be the girl that calls to me…but…then…why do I feel a pull towards her too? It's not the same, a slight attraction, but not sexually. More like, she will lead me to the girl I want to know.

A girl with a shy smile, her name is Ami. She isn't the girl either. She's in my dreams, clarity; she's the one who fights with ice. Cold. It is what I feel when water comes from her hands to fight the youma. She's…different… more introverted from my dreams. More alone, happy to hide in books concealing her feelings. She's smart, but she's far more fearful than thought she would be.

No, these girls aren't her. They cannot be her. Usagi can't be the woman I need to meet. Ami would never be that woman either. Where is she? Who is she? I want to meet that girl, that preordained princess...

Makoto. A new addition. I know her, she's a fighter. She's not the girl though. She's not the one I really need in my life. Dreams make more sense. Funny, we need to find the Moon princess, I am a warrior Mars. I have fought; I think I may have killed. Am I to be forsaken after all? Can this woman, if we find her, will she be the moon princess? I am not sure. Usagi…I feel real power in her. She fails to use it right, but, that power is so strong she may hurt herself to use it.

If she knew her true power…would she be the real one? The real princess? All I know is that I need to find that girl. The one still veiled from my clearing visions. I need to know, I need to understand…

_I dream of rain  
I lift my gaze to empty skies above  
I close my eyes  
This rare perfume is the sweet intoxication of her love_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
More dreams, more expressions. I know now. I understand now… We fought in a war, but, it's alright because I'm here now. My job…I must do my job…protecting the princess…She says she's the girl. She says she's the one. I don't know, I don't think she is. She's powerful, but, not her. She's my light, she's my need, but, I know she's not Usagi. Now, I don't know what to think. I'm not sure how to feel. I've seen death, I've seen youma now fall by our hands and I know that past war was real. It doesn't matter, I'll be fine, and she will be too.

_[Cheb Mami (Algerian Arabic):]__  
Aman aman aman  
Omry feek antia  
Ma ghair antia  
Ma ghair antia  
__[English translation below.]__  
Aman aman aman  
My life is for you  
And no one other than you  
And no one other than you_

Minako…Her name is Minako… She's the Senshi of love and beauty. She's the one I saw, but, I was right, she is a princess. She was the princess of Venus, and I, the princess of Mars. Now, I want to know, I want to understand. I know we were lovers. I just, I feel like the others are awakening too. We are remembering. We are starting to know, and, more figures are being placed into my head. I have a feeling this is just the start of something bigger. I know that we've only just begun.

Yes. More is bound to happen. More battles to come. Life will go on, but I want to know now. I want to understand even more about the past, if only to protect her for the future. To protect them. Those girls, they need me. I will protect them. I, Hino Rei, don't really know who I was in the past. I am not her, not completely. I want to know who I was, this hardened warrior, this agile princess of combat. I want to know her, not to become her, but to prevent any more danger.

I will not fail, and, I will be what I must. Show me fire, days before the war, days before the anger and hate, show me who we were. Teach me who I was. Teach me, so I can serve my life as I was preordained to do.

_I dream of rain  
I dream of gardens in the desert sand  
I wake in vain  
I dream of love as time runs through my hand_

I know it. I can feel my past life in my dreams. I had loved her. I wanted her in my life, in my arms. How did it happen, I do not know. I beg the fire to show me fully. However, even if it is a thing I will never fully understand I know what my task is here and now. I will do it with honor, I will choose Usagi over all else, but, that's not what I want…it's what she wants… Just as my blade was sworn to Minako back then, I swear the power of my flames today. Minako. She is who I protect, her order, her very will and every wish shall be carried out by me.

Why? I can answer that. I am Hino Rei, I don't bow down to some fatherly jackass, nor do I follow direction of those who treat me poorly. No. I follow Usagi, Minako, and the others for one reason. They have offered me hope. I owe my life to Usagi purely because she brought my light back to me. She gave me what I had lost. If there is any reason I follow her, this is why. I am in her debt, one made of servitude for the rest of my life. She may not see it in such a way, but, as in the past, that is how it is.

_Sweet desert rose  
Each of her veils, a secret promise  
This desert flower  
No sweet perfume ever tortured me more than this_

Funny, Usagi is the future queen we will follow. I don't give a damn about her position. She is Usagi, now and forever. She is my little annoyance with that innocent face. She's the one who if you looked at her; you'd think her a five year old trapped in a teen's body. The one who cries over idiotic things, infuriates me endlessly, and makes me question the possibility that the future may actually implode on itself due to her. In the end, I know that's why Usagi will still be Usagi no matter what's on the top of her head.

I made a vow for her long ago, of that I am sure, but, that was not the vow on my heart. Minako, she owns my very breath. Usagi, she has my protection, I am a warrior after all. Minako…she's the girl…she has my heart and my soul. She has my power, my emotions and the true ability to teach me to be a better person. She's got the vow on my heart.

_Sweet desert rose  
This memory of Eden haunts us all  
This desert flower  
This rare perfume, is the sweet intoxication of the fall_

Even so, I want to know. I want to see. Show me fire. I know I am many things, but, show me the story, show me how I loved her, why I loved her, show me the bonds and the loves that were lost. In the end, I know I am Hino Rei. I know I am a Miko, and I know I am going to school with friends who are from other planets. It's outlandish to think we will be alive so long. It is insane to believe I have full trust in a girl who has pigtails down too her butt, and yet, that's what I've done isn't it?

In the end, I don't care what I see, because it's not me now…but…if I'm ever to tell Minako how I feel, if I'm ever to embrace her, to speak of love and adoration. To want her in my arms then I feel I need to know more. I need to know something.

As I lay down to sleep I know I'll dream again, I know more memories will be awakened. I just hope that when it does happen I get to see a bit more. I hope I can see her smiling, laughing, and over all at my side, but I want to see what else happened. I want to see our ups and downs, I want to see my mistakes and hers and I want to see the real love. Only then fire…only after I see all of that will I feel ready to move on with her in this life too.

_[Cheb Mami (Algerian Arabic):]__  
Ya lili ah ya leel  
__[English translation for the above.]__  
Oh night oh night_

Show me fire…show me anything…I'll be waiting…

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Please read and review. Let me know what you think about snippet ideas such as this, since I'd like to use them on occasion.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Well, I love when inspiration comes to me when I fall out of bed only to have a snack food shoved into my face via a good friend. Anyway, I guess here is the next chapter. Anyway back to the Silver Millennium we go!

I do not own Sailor Moon. Only a fan folks.

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Chapter 4: Days go by.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" A few days had passed since Rei had held Minako close within the night, and, the girl had started to make a habit of such closeness. Minako was a clingy person anyway, but now it was getting excessive. Again, this morning, Minako was pressed into Rei's side, not that it was bothersome to Rei. It was nice not to be alone, but, it was also sending mixed messages. "Minako…"

"I'm sorry Rei." This act had many meanings; they had gone through it before. Rei would get possessive of Minako if this continued. It was as if the blond was giving her clearance to do so. To Minako this was a novel concept, one she didn't fully understand. She had wanted too, and that resulted in what was going on right now. "I just...well it's rare for someone to bed down with someone and not be a lover. Yet that's what we're doing. I'm just trying to figure it out that's all."

"The hell? Is it so hard to understand?" The raven was still groggy and it showed. "The sun isn't even up yet you know. At least go back to sleep."  
"No. Tell me why." Minako had already known why. Yet here they went again, the daily round of questioning. "Please, really tell me Rei, why don't you?"  
"I'm not at liberty to take you." Rei explained again. "You don't even know what you're asking, we aren't like you. Don't think I am either."

"Then explain it to me." Minako hovered over Rei. Her gaze pierced through lavender eyes still tiered from sleep. "I know Martians don't care what gender they decide to get together with. Only that they're strong. What I want to know is why you pulled me onto you and didn't take me. I don't understand that." It really bugged Minako. She knew she wasn't undesirable, and she wasn't eager to have sex, but, she was confused. "What is the difference between us and you? I don't mean why didn't you sleep with me, I mean why did you even allow it in the first place?"

"Since we aren't in a relationship you mean?" Rei finally got it. "You don't mean why I didn't have sleep with you, you mean what's the actual difference, don't you?" Rei sighed; it was too early for this. Even for her, it was just too early in the morning. "Ok, well, in your case, you are a powerful woman, and, if a political union alone would be enough, and, had I been a male, I would have claimed you long ago. However, more than love is required as far as a Martian union. Gender doesn't matter, however an heir does. In the case of a single child like me I have to wed a male. You have an older sibling to take the name and the throne, but, I do not. Furthermore, for you bloodline isn't a requirement, making royal adoption accepted on Venus. It is not so in the case of Mars."

"You cannot adopt a child?" Minako was lost, what was that she had seen the other day then?  
"Not for standing to be considered royalty. No. It hasn't ever been done, and, I'll say that even I look down at such a thing." Rei sat up slowly.  
"So, even if you're a blatant lesbian, you'll wed a man?" A blond eyebrow was raised at that. "Even if you don't love him?" On Venus, you married for love.  
"Yes, even if I do not love him. Martians often arrange a wedding when a child is still young, in my case that was not so." Rei stood and stretched at that.  
"Even if it's general jerk-face?" Minako wasn't a fan of jadeite. "Talk of a bad name for Martians."

"He's isn't that bad." Rei laughed slightly. "I don't love him, and he will never love me, we are under this understanding. An heir will need to be produced, so I will need to bed down with him romantically one day, but, that does not mean I love him." She rummaged through a few bits of netting looking for a water canteen and some dried meat to eat for the day's breakfast. "We Martians can be forceful like you fear, jadeite, is such type of man, but, he will prove to be strong. For my people he will be a male worthy of notice."

Taking out a knife she hacked the large chunk in half. "This is not to say that I approve of him fully, but, should he ever think he may have his way with me, he will see the true scorn of a woman." She striped the meat to look like bacon, giving some to Minako. It was better to mask her food, Rei didn't expect Minako to kill or hunt, only watch, since she knew Minako wouldn't have done those tasks. While the others had reasons to dislike it, for Minako it went against her very core, and Rei understood this. "Think of this like jerky or bacon from earth."

Minako nodded. "If my mother thinks I'm going to marry any idiot general she has another thing coming." Both shivered at that prospect. Neither liked the idea of a political union. Rei was only doing it under an understanding, but, Minako would need to do it for love. You couldn't force love. "Ami is the only one going along with this. I don't see why. It can't be her mother forcing her. Ami seemed to choose this, but I don't actually see her expressing love towards Zoisite. What do you think the cause is? Is she doing this for standing?"

"No, I think she's just not used too everything yet." Rei knew well that Zoisite was a very good match for Ami and the smaller girl already knew of this fact too. "In my eyes Zoisite is too weak to be of use. I could pummel her in an instant if I needed too; however, for Ami she is powerful, smart, and wise. Ami doesn't need to court someone based to strength, she needs someone who can actually keep up with her planet to further the advancement. While any non blooded Mercian would fall behind somewhat, Zoisite does well for being an earthling. Earth is a planet that has many trades, but, aren't masters at all."

"Speaking of planets, think you could tell me about you're gem a little bit?" Minako blushed slightly, she should have known what this meant, but retaining school book information didn't come easily to her at all. "They call it Coral right?"

"Well, Coral, or the more proper term Moonga. Anyway the Martian lord, or as you would call it, ruler should wear it. Unlike you're people, who all wear some version of your gem, only those of power should actually wear Coral. It's to signify courage, but also power to take down enemies. It is said this gem can warn us before we get sick and protects us from bad dreams and night terrors. Since many of us have abilities to read minds, fires, or otherwise, it will protect us from evil spirits that we may or may not anciently summon."

"Do you're people wear them based on impurities? Is there a proper ranking system at all?" Minako was now interested in the new banter of gem and the politics of Martian law. Rare for the blond indeed, but no matter, it was good to know such things.

"Only for combat." Rei had finished eating and was now using a stone to sharpen a few blades while talking. "All of us are gifted with our stone at birth, however, only warriors ready to battle place them on their bodies for show. Other than that, only people like my father, or, myself should wear it for show constantly. The cinnabar coloring shows its beauty. The roundness shows its exquisite taste and that is why I wear this one. Some have color variation, or other impurities, and these types are low qualities. Those are worn by the weakest of warriors, while the ones of brilliance are donned by those of true strength. That is all you'll really need to know, there is more, but for someone of your status and planet, it wouldn't matter."

A knapsack had been filled, blades sharpened, and food and water were wrapped in cloth. It was time to begin a hike that while Rei rarely took, it was needed on this day. "Today we are headed out to the poles of the planet. We'll go to the north one today. The south isn't of large value too me currently."

"Why would you want to go to the pole? It's a null point and a wasteland. No one goes there." She shivered at the mere thought. Minako had been many places, seen many things, but never a pole to any of the planets. "It's all nothing more than a primitive rock."

"For you perhaps. Take a good look around Minako, this entire place is a wasteland. Null point only means it's of no use, most of this planet isn't any use to anyone but native Martians. We have two capitol cities, and, we must travel to get too them. One, the south to be exact, is the trade centers. It house wears and also has a port for docking shuttles. The north capitol has cleaner cities and is a safer place to live; it also houses the largest health clinic. Shuttles fly not only from each pole as a transit, but, it is also how I get off this so called primitive rock when I leave for Senshi meetings."

"Wait, if you have cities, then why is everyone nomadic?" Was she eating the disgusting wild life for nothing? Minako cringed at the thought.

"Because the ones who live in the cities are people with the ability to do so. They are the ones qualified to be doctors or people of high standings. We called them new age Martians, and while we don't mind them, they wouldn't last a day out in the sands like I could. They are weak, the only thing going for them being a higher education. In the eyes of many, I may be seen as crass for saying this, but should there be a war, I will survive. Those people in those cities won't. They lack the skills, and when their supplies are depleted, they will surely be left for dead."

"That's harsh." Minako knew it was a hard way of life here, but to let both major capital cities fall would be a poorly constructed plan. "Aren't they your lifeblood? Don't you need them?"

"No, that's just it, before Mars became part of the treaty, we had no capitol cities and we were just fine. When you and I were still children the treaty was being written. We were about to go to war with not only each other, but that of earth, as a result a treaty was placed in line. This treaty will come full circle after the union of Mamoru and Usagi, followed by us being wed to the generals. Some small clans from the Dark Moon were displeased, but, we doubt they will try anything."

"You sure know a lot about the treaty Rei. At least as far as where the war lines were drawn up, I didn't know that. Only about the weddings." Minako thought too herself, she didn't know about the war segment, instead, she knew about planetary relations. "I know every planet oversees only one part of the treaty, but I wish we all had access to the information. I feel left out of the loop." She kicked her feet, some of the sand blowing around, getting carried away by the wind. "I don't like this idea at all."

"Perhaps you're right…but… it would not due for a woman such as yourself to state that. You know this, so why speak it so freely?" The raven smirked a little, already knowing the answer. She only got a look in reply. Not one of question, or of anger. Minako wasn't smiling either, she was thinking about something. "Anyway, planetary treaties aside, I'm not one to rant, but it is flawed. This wonderful place to live, well, the place they want it to be will fail and all will take a hit. We are far too different; we all have values that will make this fail."

"I know that." Minako grew serous, not really in a bad way, just in a way that made her seem so much older than she really was. Wiser, braver, that of what she should be. What a rare sight to behold. "I must admit I don't agree either. If I had my way, I would rebel, but, I guess that's just my childhood coming to bite me in the rear." The sand became interesting when Rei softly laughed; Minako was embarrassed for such an admission. "You can't blame be though. Can you?"

Rei shook her head. She understood the sentiment perfectly. "No, I can't say I do. We knew it wouldn't be possible though, childhood doesn't last forever." While Rei had accepted her tasks as they were without question, Minako often liked to fight back about what she felt was wrong. This was yet another difference of many. Slinging an arm around Minako she sighed slightly. "We can't play pretend anymore, and, I can't be a white knight on a stallion to come save you. Makoto has also given up such a wish since Ami was so willing to be with Zoisite. Games end Minako, but, we'll be ok."

"We will." The blond nodded with firm approval. "However, you're right; I will not be with that white night. I also refuse to be with such a man as any three of the generals." Rei stopped walking. She turned her head wondering something. "I won't be with any heroic knight Rei, I'll be with the subordinate warrior who takes too many orders and doesn't think for herself. I'll be with the girl who needs to stop playing the role that must be played and do what she wants. That's who I will be with." Minako looked around her; this was a world she barely understood. She knew this would never be a place she would learn to love.

Rei would be the same with Venus. That was their way of doing things. "We aren't children any more and I understand that. Playing pretend was simply that, we were kids having adventures within a play world we could make to escape our reality. We can't do that anymore, but, you can't honestly tell me you want to marry a man such as jadeite. You can't dare try to lie and say you accept this more than you really do. Many people can't read you, but, I can. You hate it. You don't agree with it, and, you want to be free from such restraints. On top of that, I think you match Haruka in personal interests, that already screws over ant general besides Zoisite. And, may I just remind you she's taken."

Rei smiled slightly, perhaps somewhat sadly. "Even if you and the others know that truth it only matters on papers. I am going to be bound to jadeite one day. You may have a say in things, but I sadly, do not." As the wind picked up Rei used a piece of cloth and tied her hair back from the dusty winds. "Our lives are very different, and, our views are too. That's why this won't work. Besides all of that no one seems to have taken into account that the treaty has so many loopholes. That alone could cause trouble."

"That's why I say we, the children, as a unity should rebel. If it is kept among families it won't go public." The walk staggered on, both mulling over the thought as Minako threw many of the treaty confliction into the conversation. "Mars wants every planet to be strong fighters, but, some planets are peaceful by nature. Uranus wants all planets to regulate their atmospheres to act the same and Neptune wishes aquatic levels to stabilize. Just because they were able to do such things to their planets, others wouldn't be able too."

"That's bad news for Ami on all fronts. Their planet is catered to them, and while they cannot go directly into combat against a planet like Mars having any hope to win, that doesn't make them weak. Their tactics could end any of us in a heartbeat. They are masters in deception, only ones better would have to be the mages that control time." Shrugging her knapsack to one side she continued. "Either way, there are other complications as well. Venus isn't combative and Mars has so little water to begin with. We are happy we receive any at all. It's one big mess of idealistic views that will screw us all over."

"So, should we make a move?" Her eyes were hopeful, together with their friends it would be worth a try.

"For now, I say no. Should there be a time an opening to vocally combat the arrangements properly arises, then we can try." She took a seat a nearby rock. They needed a rest. "Until then I say we sit and wait. If our ability to rebel is meant to be, then, and only then, will I say we should try it. For now, worry about your time here. Our first priority will be the trip into the city and a restock, then, the real fun begins."

TBC-

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I know, shorter chapter than most, but, I have places to be today and as a result not much time for a longer chapter. Please excuse the slight shortness. Please review.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: I am sorry for the long wait. I seemed to have had misplaced my binder with my work in it. Lucky for me, a good friend of mine emailed me the little few paragraphs I was working on for this chapter and I can now gladly finish this chapter and continue onward. I was fearful I'd have to wait a month and a half to get it, but thankfully I can continue on now that I have my missing few paragraphs.

I do not own Sailor Moon. I am only a fan.

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Chapter 5: Lonely Martian Boy.

Rei had seemed angry, almost vengeful for the mere existence that the capitol even existed. Now Minako knew why. It was a crying shame worthy of such malice and so much more. Junk littered the streets and homeless screeched through such rubble. Rei cast a pitying look, but did no further to help them. Had they not disgraced the Martian name they would have either been dead or survivors living in clans like normal Martians. She could not help them now. They made their bed, now they had to deal with it. She couldn't save every person, she wouldn't try. Her eyes were disheartened at the sight, but, she couldn't encourage this any further, helping those people would only do just that.

It was painful in Minako's eyes. Her heart ached to see such sights. Rei would do nothing, and the blond wanted nothing to offer solace. She held back, knowing Rei would disapprove, but that didn't stop her from wanting to do so. What did catch Minako off guard was a child on the outside of an alleyway. He looked hungry, hurt, and lost. What intrigued Minako even more was Rei's interest in the boy. She stopped and stared, as if trying to read him, and Minako felt lost by such actions.

"What's wrong? Why are you stopping now?" Minako couldn't grasp it. This place was a dirty grungy city. It had medical care and advancement, but at what cost? "We've seen about twenty homeless people and now you stop?"

"Those were adults older than us Minako. They knew what they were doing by coming here. I have no remorse for them." She nodded her head in the direction of the boy. "That boy is a different matter entirely. He had no say in what brought him here. Even if he had been nomadic at one time, he is still a child. No solace will be offered to him. If he had been looking for help, he will find none. If he was born here, then he has no reason to be blamed."

"I don't understand." Martian core values weren't seemingly being thought of here in the city. They were a driving force of this planet. It was something Minako learned very early on. She thought everyplace on mars was like that. Yet this child hadn't been helped. In fact, he was hiding from adults. Was city life so sad, so depraved, that a child would be abused in such a manner? Is this what awaited orphaned children who wouldn't find a nomadic group? Minako couldn't even think of it, no, she wouldn't accept that.

"I told you. This place is full of new aged Martians. No one cares here. Technology has clouded the minds of my people, what you see is the result. They have their own families, they have their own needs, and to hell with anyone else. That is what this city knows of. That is why when those of this city finally die out I cannot and will not be held accountable. This is their sin. This is why my people would rather die in the red sands than seek the gifts that could be offered here." Rei sighed and took a seat.

"The gifts are plentiful, but, it has cost them every shred of Martian values they have. Who the hell cares about living on at that point? Who wants to have the luxuries of the city at the expense of such pain? I'd rather die in a nomadic clan young than see this every day until I'm old." She pulled Minako down to sit on the ground too. A blond eyebrow rose in question but it was not answered. Instead Rei was focused on the child. In moments the child nodded and came over to them.

"Get on my back. I'm getting you out of here." Rei sighed as she knelt down on her knees. The boy did as he was told obediently and voicelessly. "Any more like you back there? Or are you the only one?" The boy shook his head seemingly speaking in her head as she sighed looking to Minako. "He can't speak. If it wasn't for our mental abilities he'd never be able to communicate at all. He needs help and he won't find it here."

"Then where do you intend to take him?" Minako hoped to any possible deity that Rei didn't plan on taking him to another clan and leaving him there.

"You'd better not abandon him someplace or I'll never forgive you." Her voice was stern. Minako rarely used that voice. Such a voice meant trouble for Rei if she disobeyed. Lucky for both of them Rei had no intention of doing that.

"Why would I?" Rei then smiled at her own inability to see through Minako's fears for the boy. Rei was dense sometimes when it came to the ways of other planets. "Oh, no…he's not nomadic Minako, I can't do that. What I can do is take him with us. He'll go with my father once we meet up with him."

"Why would you leave him with your dad of all people?" Ok, if Minako had been lost before, she was now doubly confused. "Isn't that just as bad as abandoning the kid? Why not just look after him yourself?" Minako knew that wouldn't go over well. Rei wasn't ready for that, but, to leave the boy in the care of a less than loving man wasn't what Minako deemed a good idea.

"We could take him to Venus, or another planet. We have adoption there in large numbers. He would have a home in a better city. Please Rei, reconsider this. You're dad isn't what most call a paternal figure!" Panicking blonds and hot headed ravens don't often mix well. Especially in the case of Minako and Rei. This time though, Rei took pity on the woman who was quite clearly concerned.

"Because my dad can look after him just like he does the other orphans. I grew up in a traveling clan. I'm the only one of actual bloodline, but, that doesn't mean I didn't have others with me when I was growing up. I know you think he's a bad man, but, if he was so cruel, so harsh as you seem to think, would he take in the orphaned children of these cities?" she shook her head. "If he was the man you claim I'd highly doubt it."

That seemed to hush Minako up, but, Rei softened her voice. If it was to drive her point home, or to comfort her long time friend was hard to tell. "Besides, did it ever occur to you that he was hard on us because raising a bunch of children alone wasn't an easy task? When mom died he was the only adult we had for a long time. It's not easy chasing kids around when you're the only one doing it. Other adults joined up with him over time, and as I and a few others got older we began to help out more. For a long time though, it was only one of him and a bunch of us kids. Anyone would have to be at least a little harsh for us all too even survive, let alone been fed, clothed, and properly cared for."

"I never thought of it like that." Minako looked to the boy being carried. He was tired and very weak. Why Rei wasn't stopping to feed him or anything else eluded the blond, but she didn't want to stick her foot in her mouth any further. Rei knew what she was doing at least to some extent. That much was made very apparent. Instead a new question was posed. "So what do we do until we run into your dad then? Isn't he on another planet right now?"

"Yes. He is." Rei responded softly fully aware of the boy sleeping on her back. "That is why we cannot go to Venus until he returns. I know it throws us off a small bit, but, there are a few things I can still show you around here, and, I think it would be good for you to meet the man for yourself. Those rumors are starting to make you see things in very untrue lights. I can't allow you to see our political leader as some sort of dishonorable man. Let alone continue to think that my father is as abusive as you still seem to think. That needs to be dispelled, sooner rather than later being most favorable."

"Where will we stay until then? If you're nomadic most of the time then you don't have any real place to cal home, do you?" her voice betrayed her as more worry slipped in. "He's too weak to travel Rei. You can't expect him to be able to follow us, and you can't carry him either. What do you plan to do? Drag him along by a rope? Face it, we're stuck here."

"Oh stop worrying Minako." Readjusting the boy jostling him only slightly in the process Rei rolled her eyes. Did Minako really think her to be that brainless that she wouldn't know that already? "We have a home not far from here. It's more like a campsite rather than a home, but, it has the provisions needed. Father will return there first to rest up as he always does, his clan will follow him. When he returns home, the boy will stay under his care and jurisdiction. Until then we wait for him return."

"Is it far from here?" It was getting late they would need to find a place for shelter soon. "I don't imagine the inner cities to be safe at night."  
"No, it's not far. It's not close either though, but, we will get there before nightfall." Rei smiled at Minako's eagerness to leave such a place. She felt the same.  
"So, what is your home like? Is it a home type of home? Or is it like the clan dwellings from before?" Curiosity was getting better of the blond as usual.  
"You'll see." Rei replied softly and to the point. "It's not grand, but it is a home to me. To you it'll most likely equate to a shack."

Rei's explanation wasn't far off as two hours later they arrived at a small run down house with old warn wood and outdoor cooking equipment. It was clear that people rarely stayed there. The boy was still tired, and it was clear he was ill. It was a sickness that Minako wasn't used too. His body was pale and his breathing was ragged. Rei wordlessly laid him in the first cot she saw and sighed as she went about to prepare water to help with the fever. She also cut up a strange dried root, placing the skins in the water.

"He has type of fever from the heat. It'll be gone by morning, but, it's clear he hasn't properly taken care of himself. He's lucky. He could have easily been killed had this continued." She said curtly as she stood up and walked out of the small shed like dwelling. Leaving Minako alone for only a moment before returning with some thorns other odds and ends that she began grinding into a paste with some of the water.

"What is that for?" Minako was confused. The smell was horrible and pungent. "What are you trying to do? Melt his airways?" It was so strong it burned her nose every breath she took.

"If it bugs you get away from the bowl. I need to grind it up to put on his back, chest, and throat." Rei said almost too seriously. "I'm not kidding when I said he was ill, he can't breathe. He most likely has something like mucus or a bunch of sand and dirt in his lungs. This will make him cough and help him clear his airways. It's like an expectorant. He needs it more than ever. Had he been in a clan, they would have done this for him days ago, but it has progressed."

"Why didn't you take him to a hospital if he was this ill?" Blue eyes found those of lavender as she looked expectantly for an answer. She didn't find any, instead Rei resumed her work. It was clear that an explanation wasn't one she would like. "Alright then, at least tell me what I can do to help."

"If you want to help, remove his shirt and do away with it. Then find a cool cloth from the wicker bin and remove the dirt and sand from his upper body. I want this to go on when he's clean." Minako nodded and set to the task, being careful with the boy. Rei looked up and noted the question still in Minako's eyes. "If he had gone for help, he hadn't been given any. It's common. That means I know how to deal with it as would any parent with half a brain. He was likely cast aside due to the fact that if he had a family they would know how to treat it."

"Is it normally this bad?" Minako became very concerned as she changed the water. "Do children often suffer in that city? Is that what they go through all the time?" She looked at the boy again, his breathing the same, his eyes opened slowly and closed again, the fever making him sleepy. "Is this what it's like on Venus too?" Minako hadn't been allowed into the poorer sections of her planet. "Is this why I have to stay near the high class part of the planet?"

"I would assume so, but, I don't know Minako." Rei said as she brought the bowl of ground herbs over to the boy's side. "Either way, it wouldn't have been this bad had it been caught early. He has no family to care for him. He cannot care for himself, and with no clan to show him, he would have likely been yet another casualty as a result of that city. Most Martians aren't so spiteful, as I'm sure you now know. He'll get better, but, we need to be sure to keep a watchful eye on him."

"Is this why you carried him?" Minako asked. It hadn't seemed obvious that he had been so ill before. Rei nodded and Minako continued to look down at the child. She felt bad for him; she wished she could do more. "He'll be ok, right?"

"Now he will, as long as we look after him." Rei nodded. "However, it'll be a long few days. This thing will take a while for him to kick completely. His neck is inflamed, that's why he can't speak. Give it a few days. When father arrives we will explain the situation and then go to Venus. He'll be in Father's hands after that." As the night went on neither slept. Minako was too worried for the child and Rei was too worried about Minako worrying and ending up causing more trouble. As a result, the long night trudged on slowly as both waited for the sun to come up.

TBC~

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Sorry it such a long time to update. Please read and review.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Hey guys sorry for the long wait on the updates. My back has now healed to the point that I can actually sit properly at a desktop again (thank god) so now I can go back to writing my longer fan fiction (like this one.) I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint since I know it's been a long wait for the update.

I do not own Sailor Moon.

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Chapter 6: The Honorable Leader of Mars.

It had been three more long days of waiting. Minako had given up hope of asking when Rei's father would show up. He seemed to be rather elusive. Rei for her part had other reasons to be worried. The boy had gotten better, albeit a slight cough remaining. That too would heal if given time. No, it wasn't the boy's illness that kept her worried. It was the fact that he bore a both a coral and a diamond on a thin rope under his shirt. This meant he wasn't a full blooded Martian. It did explain why he was in the city though. Where his parents were now, true to Martian form, wouldn't be told by his voice. That only meant one thing; he really was alone now.

Rei had figured he had been alone or abandoned due his family in the city. It was quite the contrary. He had a family, but that was the key word. Had. Now he was alone and his father, a man from Venus heritage, had told the boy to go into the city for aid. That was the last thing spoken out of his father's mouth. Love, care, and an ideal on the planet Venus would have worked, here on Mars that meant very little at all. Anyway, the boy looked that of power and it was obvious that he knew Martian life well. He had been raised properly despite the facts of his bloodline and hard existence.

Lavender eyes seemed to keep an eye on him. He was quite the helpful child. Never complained, never wavered or faltered in his tasks. He did as was asked of him, and even what was not. It was quite clear that his mother had taught him many things and had left him with at least a few skills to help him survive despite his young age. Rei had pride in that. Anyone of Martian heritage knew that it was the best gift to give your child on this planet. The skills to live and thrive were things that would never leave a person. The real meaning went far deeper than any real outsider could ever know. Values were at the heart of any real Martian.

Even in his weakened state he insisted on helping to prepare food. He was eager to be a part of Rei and her hunting. In his eyes she was his leader now. She was his means of survival. His way of showing this was learning anything she would offer to teach him. This was yet another part of Martian law. Minako had learned this fact earlier when she was in the clans. Family came first and everyone else later. Even if he wasn't being cast aside he knew that in a clan he would not be gifted with such one on one teaching. He was only a lone child after all. He took this opportunity now to learn the things Rei was doing. He may not be gifted with such personalized lessons later.

This of course was another reason to have such a pride in the boy himself. He aided in anything his body would allow, sometimes becoming too eager and over exerting himself in the process. Rei finally sent him off to rest fearing for him, yet, her father would see a true Martian in him. She was happy for that. Her time chopping up some meat into edible pieces went by slowly, as did finding roots and other flammable materials for a fire. Minako made herself useful by watching over the child. Martian cooking wasn't a strong suit of hers, and, she found herself learning a lot more when in casual conversation.

The day was coming to a close when she saw many figures in the distance coming up from the south. With them was Rei. She must have returned from scouting. Alongside her was a tall and toned man carrying previsions. This must be her father. Most of the people with him were around Rei's age or younger. A few older adults scattered the younger population only slightly. It was apparent that his clan had either gotten smaller in their travels, or Rei had over embellished the size of his clan. The former was most likely true. People did seem to come and go quite a lot.

When they got to the camp the man eyed Minako for a moment but dismissed himself without a word of introduction. The others seemed to do the same; she was of merely commoner heritage in their eyes. She would receive no praise for simply being royal blood, nor would he accept her to do the same of him. It was clear with even the way the boy spoke that this man, although a leader of his people, didn't earn respect merely for the power he held. "Child, is it true you have no home to go back too?"

"Yes sir." The boy nodded as he made sure to keep eye contact. The child did not bow to the ground in fear or respect. Not in the presence of such a strength. "My name gifted upon birth is Kadar, meaning a Martian guard. I seek to live out my name one day but as you see me now, I have no name to be honored by. I have lost my family due to my lack of skills in both combat and basic survival. My mother fell ill, and my father was not of this planet. Forgive my insolence on such things we pride ourselves on, but now I am in a time of desperation." He was apologetic, respectful, and overtly honest. He was sure to signify his inabilities clearly, but, never in such a way to degrade himself.

"I see no reason to forgive a person who has done no wrong. I hear good things of you. Even despite dealing with situations unbecoming of greatness you have proven your worth in the eyes of my daughter. That alone gives you a reason to join our clan. I am Jed. That name owns the meaning of king. Although, truth be spoken, I am less than thrilled with such a title. Speak of me by name, as I will do for you. Please acquaint yourself with those around you; I have other things to tend to right now." The man now known as Jed said with a firm nod dismissing himself of the boy for now.

The child, now known as Kadar, did as was told of him. He spoke to everyone, acquainting himself with those of adults and those of children alike. He made sure to act with dignity and an air of pride for them, as they showed a pride in him. Unity in its finest. To show pride in the others he placed them above himself. When they did the same for him, it proved to him that he was welcomed with open arms. Within this, they proved to him he wasn't at fault. It was far more complex than Minako had first thought.

When those who were told to hunt that night left, he made sure to accompany them. Although Rei had gotten him food earlier, he had wanted to help. The others found an enthusiasm to show him things in return for his kind offer. The give and take situation was quite clear in Minako's eyes. Rei made sure to help out as well, and Minako stuck closely next to Rei's side trying not to burden people. Soon camp had been made for everyone and the children were sent off to play, all but Kadar.

He found an interest in an elderly woman who was making medical supplies. He found himself grinding herbs, not only helping her, but learning some value about snake venom. He found questions to ask, comments to speak of and often remained busy. Some of the elder members seemed to keep a concerned eye out for him, especially after Rei made it a very clear concern that he was still recovering from illness. Though they allowed him to help, as any boy of his place would, they made sure to give him light, easy tasks.

"He is a smart boy. One that I'm interested to see grow into a proud man one day. A little mousy though, was expecting a little more meat on his bones." A tall form dwarfed the two girls as his low voice commanded his presence with a rumble of power. "He has been ill though, won't he ever rest?" Jed asked as he took a seat by Rei. His eyes were slightly concerned for the child's wellbeing even if his voice didn't change to account for it. "We must be sure to locate his clan soon."

"Since we found him in the city I don't assume he actually has a clan to find." That admission was also stated in a matter of fact tone. "I'm sure that he only wants to prove his worth. Besides that, did you see the gems; he isn't only of Martian blood. I'd assume he's trying to make up for that by trying his best to make up for any faults his father may have instilled in him early on." Rei had a deep respect for her father and her people. It was clear in her voice. She was showing a rare gentleness for the child and it wasn't lost by Minako or Jed. "That damnable city, it needs to be destroyed if more children like him seek aid only to find none."

"I agree, but just as our once fallen cities of old, it would do little good to try to teach them. Soon they will learn just as our ancestors the true value of Martian honor. When they do, it will be a costly lesson indeed." Jed nodded vigorously. "The great god Ares has taught us that bloodshed is needed and war is vital. However, no matter how necessary these things are, we must never forget our brethren or all will be doomed to suffer. To learn love and care are things that he had learned from his consort Aphrodite. Vanity is a downfall found within all of us, and is also the main cause of such malice. We are all of different planets. That boy should feel no need to make up for what his father may have taught him."

"How do you know so much about Aphrodite?" Minako was one who knew of the goddess well. It was a symbol of her people after all. The goddess of love and beauty was one that those of Venus honored. Minako only knew vaguely of Ares, the scriptures of her people only speaking little of his existence in Aphrodite's life.

"As you know, we Martians praise many gods and goddesses, just as the other planets do. These of earth have a name for each of these. They have different names and classifications for each. In the case of Ares, those of earth call him a Greek god, and Aphrodite is the same for Venus. They go hand in hand in their studies, and as political figure I've wound up studying everything slightly if only to empower myself with the tools I need." Jed explained as he coughed at his generic yet seemingly uncaring response.

Rei picked up, she too had been studying such things. "Earth has broken up our beliefs into different segments. Roman gods, Greek gods, Nordic…you know. Things like that. In all honesty I am about as enthused about that as my father is. Either way, it doesn't matter. We know about Aphrodite because of the involvement she had with Ares, our god of blood and war. We have other gods and goddesses than just Ares though. Our planet, Mars, is the name of what earth calls a roman god. We took the planet in his name. Most of them take a warrior status. Some have honor, others have nothing but spite in them. Either way, there is far more to our planetary beliefs than just Ares."

"That brings be to another question." Minako said slowly hoping she would not offend anyone with it. "Most royalty seem to take earth bound names instead of one's of planet significance. Venus is the only planet to not change a name after a person comes of age. Why is that?"

"That is simple. On many planets that title must be earned." Rei said slowly. "I was given an earth bound name as a child. When I am a leader and a proper adult with a family of my own, I will lose such a name if father wishes it. In the case of Kadar, that is a Martian bound name, it was gifted upon him after his family was lost. He bears the mark of an adult, even if he is unable to carry the full weight of his name yet. Any earth bound name he may have had is now lost to the shadows. He will not speak of it again."

"Well spoken my daughter." Jed smiled. "My name is of the Martian language; Jed means king. Before that I was known as an earth bound name. With my child, Rei, I will not gift her a name when she finally finds a proper man to wed. Her mother is the one who gave her the name of Rei. She was a fragile child at birth you know; I feared she wouldn't be able to lead our people. I was mistaken and I'm happy to shove my foot in my mouth about that entire thing. Yet Rei holds ties from Venus. That name is the one thing her mother gave her that no one will force her to leave behind." Some of the bugs were starting to make their appearance in the sand and he flicked one that seemed to have been starting a journey to find some exposed skin to bite.

"It is time we found shelter. The bugs are starting to get annoying." The girls nodded and Jed stood, brushing himself off of any debris. They went inside the small shack only to find that no one had used the refuge. It was empty; everyone else must have chosen to pitch the canvases. "When will you be off?" He asked knowing the trip to Venus was soon to be in order.

"Daybreak." Rei said simply. "Minako has suffered in our red sands quite enough, and, as much as I like clan life, this was part of our agreement with the galactic treaty." Moving over to Minako's side she allowed the blond to cuddle up. They had known each other as small children. Her father wouldn't question the close proximity. The smaller blond used to cling to everything as a small child.

"You are your mother's daughter Minako." Jed sighed. He remembered full well dealing with the same basic situation as a boy. Before he had his marriage arranged for him he too suffered from such things. That earned a raised eyebrow from Rei. Her father rarely spoke of that type of thing. "What?" He chuckled lightly. "Like mother, like daughter Rei. That's all I'm going to say." His joke was very true, although he would never state such things.

Both of the girls looked very similar to their mothers, but, that where they differed as well. Rei acted far more the Martian her father was. Her beauty came from her mother but that was all she had obtained from the woman born of Venus. Minako not only obtained her mother's beauty, she got all of the older woman's clinginess to go along with it. Jed had found Minako's mother to be truly annoying, slightly endearing, and even cute, all at the same time.

One often didn't know how to handle women of Venus because of their overtly needy attitudes, but, then again Martians weren't always the picture of perfection either. Both planets, better yet, all planets had small issues that made others want to hate each other. Jed chuckled again as he mused about these thoughts. That was why the treaty had been formed. It was to help nullify some of the arguing.

"I think you've lost your mind." Rei joked dryly. "But, whatever, the heat was bound to fry your brain one day." She laughed as she seriously thought about that. It wasn't Jed whose brain was fried and they both knew it. "How is grandfather? Have you seen him recently?" the question seemed hopeful.

"No, you'll surely see the old pervert when you go to Venus. The last I heard, he was terrorizing the young women again." Jed laughed wholeheartedly at that. "You know that old coot can't keep himself proper for ten minutes, let alone travel in a clan like ours. He's just lucky he hasn't gotten beaten within an inch of his life, for a holy man he sure is questionable."

"Father!" Rei was only mock stern as she tried to keep the grin off of her face. "He isn't that bad or he wouldn't have survived here for so long." She became serene when she thought of how much he missed the man. He was a very kind, if not slightly moronic at times. When Rei was a child he had always given her a reason to smile even in the darkest of times. "He's getting older though, and I really wish he would settle down some place. Even if it is with another woman, just so that he'd stop trying to rekindle his youth."

"So you're grandfather was from Venus originally, or did he migrate there?" Minako hadn't really paid much attention to Rei's family mostly because her mother had passed on long ago. Anything she would have grown fond of dealing with Venus had become a somewhat touchy topic. Rei and her inability to fully let go of her mother's passing was the cause of it. In a way, all of Rei's family was like this, albeit in different ways. "I thought bloodline had to be preserved." It was a thought that had grated on Minako's mind for a while.

"Minako, I feel you've misunderstood." Jed said somewhat pensive. "Bloodline pertains to the parents themselves, not their planet of origin. I don't know if you've noticed, but there are very few full blooded people from any planets anymore. Now, bloodline pertains to family history more than anything else, even so, purity does reign supreme in smaller, less overt degrees. You'll learn all of that in due time though." Slowly he stood, dusting the dirt off of his body. Mars was indeed a dirty place to live. He bid the girls a peaceful rest and went out to make the nightly rounds for a few hours.

This was the last night Minako would be spending on Mars for a while. Rei was thankful her father hadn't questioned things, but, she knew it wouldn't last long. Paradise was a fleeting thing and she knew that all too soon the home of red she loved so much would be traded for a place she found uncomfortable to speak of. She had been on pins and needles about that particular visit, she'd only hope Minako wouldn't pry her as too why.

TBC~

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Please read and review.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: It seems every time I sit down to write someone or something needs to be a thorn in my side. Yeh. Time is not on my side as of late. Anyway, after quite an interesting few days here is the next chapter. Please read and review.

I do not own Sailor Moon.

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Chapter 7: Meet Me at the Moon.

At the start of the next day Rei and Minako headed back into the city early. It was about time that they switched off for the course of Venus, but, due to the delay a pit stop had to be made on the Moon first. They needed to notify Usagi about the facts that Rei had yet to go to Venus and needed more time before another switch off happened. Usagi wouldn't mind in the least. The visit was for formalities sake, nothing more and nothing less. If they had wanted to be casual a simple communicator call would have been all it took.

Rei wasn't one for flying outside and away from her planet. She was familiar with the royalties and formalities used on other planets, and quite frankly, she wasn't about to be happy to achieve such empty gratitude. It was sickening to even think that she would be treated above what she really was. Hell, Rei may be a princess, but she wasn't the best of fighters. That title, as well as the royal standing was something only her father had. It drove Rei nuts to think about. She didn't want praise. If she had her way, shed most likely bury herself under the plush comforts of Venus and hide from the people that could possibly drive her insane with their hero worship.

"Would you stop being such a downer Rei?" Minako chirped happily. She was glad to be off of Mars and it was quite clear. Not that Rei would fault the blond for it. She most certainly suffered enough from the wrath of sand, heat, and lack of worldly comforts that Venus seemed to have even in the poorest of households. The palace found on the Moon was quite similar to Venus in such ways.

"Well pardon me for wanting construction workers to use basic logic." Rei again grimaced at the idiocy of it all. No one needed to have such a large space for anything. It may look pretty but if Rei was honest, she had been tempted enough to see how strong those walls really were. "I'd bet they would crumble in a heartbeat." She sighed under her breath. It wasn't anything personal, just a vantage point of one who never knew life inside of a brick wall. Amenities clouded judgment far too easily sometimes.

"Really, Stop it." Minako chided lightly. "It's not anyone's fault you don't know what it means to actually stay in one spot." Minako had a knack for firing some of Rei's distaste back at her. It was an even mix, and well rounded. The banter was healthy even if it could be rude. Rei needed to be shot down a few pegs every now and then when she wasn't on her own soil, but Minako gauged that as Rei's way of venting insecurity. "You're the only one I know afraid of structures."

"Idiot." Rei growled. "It's not the buildings themselves, it's what they signify." Lavender eyes became foggy and signs of barely there tears could be seen if one looked hard enough. Minako didn't have to look. She just knew. The power of Venus had its strengths, and that was one of them. The power was also something that made Rei uneasy. She was a walled and protected girl for a reason. Minako's ability to read emotions on such a raw level would unnerve anyone as guarded as Rei very easily.

"Then, what do they signify to you?" Minako asked softly. Apart of her felt it would be the fact that the cities on Mars rolled of Rei's tongue with such distaste. Yet, those eyes held something with far more real, and, within that clarity a hidden vengeance sat dormant. Anger, sadness, and…something else. It was something Rei never really showed outwardly, but inside she was full of it. She had no real way to defuse her feelings, so they just sat there. Not bothering the world, only tormenting Rei inside.

"Minako, I can't explain it. In Martian speech there is a name for that, but, among the common voice nothing would come close." Her eyes mulled over the area they passed and she knew Minako wanted a better response. "Each planet is its own little world. It wasn't long ago that we had no idea that others existed. If that life had continued then you and I wouldn't have met, and, while I value you're companionship I also wonder what price my world will be forced to pay."

Minako thought about that seriously. It had been a thought in her mind. All the planets had been blissfully unaware of each other until a few hundred years ago. Even when other life was discovered everyone seemed to avoid each other. It was for the best when one thought about it. Then, for whatever the reason, friends were made, as well as enemies. It had cast the planets into disorderly, hateful places. That was when the first war had happened. It was a horrid situation that was now no more than a small blemish in each planets history. Looking back, it was that war that caused the lies and deceit that took place to this day.

If one really thought about it, it was only after each planet suffered that blades were placed away and a slight peace took over. Peace was a relative term at best. It was more like a barely there tolerance and utter fear of each other. It was during the short time of calm that someone strong enough overtook the thrones that at one point set each planet into anarchy. Slowly whoever was in power at the time worked to unite their own people.

Minako, well all of the planetary heirs in fact, were only the third generation to see peace among the planets, and for many it was a cause for concern. They would be the new leaders, and it was up to them to see their planets grow and thrive under the new galactic treaties. The friendships that Minako and Rei built would be one of the deepest keys to making the idea work. Even so, it was an idea that all of the heirs saw a fault in, none fully agreeing with all of the terms. Still, their parents were in charge, and until the new generation had power, nothing would change.

"What's the first thing you'll amend?" Minako asked abruptly, pulling Rei out of her deep inner thought.

"I won't modify anything." Rei was so assured of herself that it astounded the blond. "It is the want for change that is causing the need for a treaty; it is the inevitable intolerance that will cause another war. What our parents fail to realize is that sometimes doing nothing and being happy with the blessings you have is a greater gift than risking everything. Change is important, but, we should not allow our values to be compromised in the process. That's what they've done, and we will be lucky if we do not see bloodshed because of it. Now there is peace, but, will we be able to say the same years down the line?"

"That doesn't explain your attitude here and now though." The blond sighed thinking about all of the emotions flowing through Rei. There were a lot. Some more misplaced than others, but amongst them all were a few emotion that Minako simply couldn't read for the life of her. She knew they were there, but she had no idea what they were. It was a rare issue indeed. "Why do you change so much when you leave Mars? You weren't like this before."

"No, perhaps not." The girl nodded as raven tresses fell into her eyes acting as a shield. "Just as you fear sand, I fear the dwellings you live in. they will only bring you pain. You all place value on material things, things my people have no use for. It was those values that corrupt my people into living in the bastardized cities on Mars, but, beyond that, I do not see the need for how you live. I fear your dwellings because that is only one of many ways you define the world in which you choose to live."

Rei sighed, pulling her hair out of her face, her lavender eyes deadly serious. She was out of her comfort zone, and her eyes now proved her to be the warrior she was raised to be. She had fear, but it was masked by the look of strength. "Just as we Martians are seen as barbaric, people of Venus are seen as morally bankrupt. My people tell stories of how they feed on the soul, read your emotions and take you for all that you are worth. I know you aren't like that, but, that doesn't mean all are like you Minako. Just as Mars has its problems, so does Venus, I won't pretend for a moment I feel safe in a place I do not know."

Minako nodded at that. The Moon was much the same as Venus and Rei had judged everything together. It was easy for anyone to do it. Minako couldn't blame Rei for her view; the girl had hit a few nails on the head after all. Minako could read emotions. Love was powerful, and, in the wrong hands it was a very deadly implement. Rei fought with weapons, but the armies of Venus used emotions as a deceptive tool. It was powerful, and Rei was a fish out of water. It was even more deadly for Martians because of their mental powers.

"You do seem to be jetting out quite a lot of anger." Minako nodded. "Why not think happier things." That earned her a grunt in annoyance and the blond just laughed lightly. "Here you are complaining about danger and you'll do nothing to cool down what you're feeling. You may be mentally powerful, but I'm empathetic. I can feel that raw anger and hate, that will only endanger you more. You do realize that, right?"

"No duh." Rei growled. "This is why, pardon me for saying this, I hate Venus." Her words were not as offensive as they could have been, her insecurities poking through the tough exterior. "I'm nothing but fodder out here. I could be lured into a trap and not even know it. You can feel what I think. When we land it won't only be you."

Trepidation, frustration, and, slight melancholy…

That's what laced Rei's voice and Minako couldn't help but feel bad for Rei's exposure. "I hate that. I hate that even if you can't read my mind you can feel it. It sucks to know I'll be stripped that utterly bare. I don't mind you or Usagi in her rare moments of the skill, but…"

"You don't trust others." Minako supplied in a slightly shaky voice. She was feeding off of Rei now. The pained emotions were something unsettling to the blond, she may not have known why, but, then again, maybe she never wanted to find out. "I'll be there. No one will mess with you or your emotions. No one will deceive you like that." It was an empty promise in Rei's eyes and Minako knew it. Rei would need to see it to understand it.

Each planet had what one would call innate abilities native to those born under such a planet. Some were stronger than others, and some were affected differently. In the case of Mars and Venus the effects weren't ones that clashed, in fact it was quite the opposite. Minako, being naturally empathetic could read emotions spurred on by thoughts. Rei, being of Mars, had the innate ability to use her mental and spiritual abilities to send powerful thoughts onto others.

Both abilities could work alongside each other. Controversially, they were also used as weapons to fight with. It would all depend on the people and the cause behind the use. Rei had a level emotional attachment that some Martians simply didn't have within their consciousness. That was due to her mother's traits from Venus. It didn't grant Rei full power over it though, since she was clearly born with dominant Martian traits above all else. If anything, the merger in both of the planets traits only made Rei more exposed than the average, full blooded Martian. It was both strength and a curse.

Just as the blond was going to comment on the facts surrounding Rei's temperament she saw the landing dock ahead. Thinking ahead, she thought it better to ease Rei into Venus slowly, conceivably with a little bit of backup. The landing was smooth as expected of the latest modules used in planet transit. Though neither girl had an overnight bag, both were still accompanied to the front gates by the castle guards. The palace was a large plot of land, and was often the main city used to regulate the more common transit routes for other planets. It was because of it that the guards were covering the street most of the time.

Security was even tighter when one passed the gates. Many types of guards made sure to bow down to the two princesses upon their arrival. Minako, for all intense and purposes was preordained as the main figurehead in case a war ever developed. Rei would be second in command. Every man woman and child of any military backing knew well of this and made it a point to show respect. Rei huffed in annoyance, ignoring everyone around her. Only her fellow Martians understood the reason behind it. Minako, thought inwardly annoyed at the constant praise made it a point to control her emotions to only show how tired she was and her overt gratitude.

Usagi could only giggle as she saw two of her friends coming up the walkway. One of them was sneering at everyone in sight, the other being dragged along quickly as a few of the palace servants made it a point to follow diligently behind. It was quite the spectacle, too bad Rei was in too foul of a mood to enjoy it. With a wave of her hand and a soft smile Usagi summoned the two servants warning them of Rei's temper, suggesting they go off to find the queen instead. Rei seemed thankful underneath the aggravated look.

"I trust you had a safe trip." Usagi said with a smile. She smelled of sweets and the crumbs on her cheek gave away her guilty pleasure. Embracing both girls Usagi's nose scrunched up in slight displeasure. "What's wrong with Princess Grumpy?" She asked innocently. Rei had an attitude normally…but…this was just weird. Even Usagi could feel the odd emotional waves in the air.

"Shut up Usagi." Rei deadpanned. She wasn't in the mood for games and thankfully both blonds picked up on that. "I can't help it, stop reading my emotions if it displeases you so much."

"Don't mind her." Minako stated now more serious than ever. "We need more time since we got caught up on Mars for a few extra days. We are just now headed to Venus, and, that would be the cause of 'Grumpy' and her distress. I was hoping you could get the others to tolerate each other for a little while longer, or arrange a break so that we aren't sending undue stress to the other planets."

"I most certainly can." Usagi nodded in affirmation as she began to get a small smile on her face. "However, it has been a long time since I've had the chance to visit with any of you girls. Perhaps I could persuade you to stay for dinner and stay the night. I could use someone else to converse with. I love Mamoru, don't get me wrong, but he's so caught up in his father's work he hardly get's any time to himself. I fear I'm starting to annoy him."

"Well, you are high maintenance." Rei smiled a little bit. She enjoyed being amongst people she could trust, and Usagi was most defiantly one of those people. "I know what you mean though. Mamoru has even more to deal with than anyone else considering he is going to be wed to you. I can't believe it's actually going to happen. Think of it, chub cheeks Tuskino is going to marry the dashing prince of earth."

"You aren't any prize yourself." Came Usagi's indignant reply. They had known each other far too long to play along with unnecessary formalities. It showed clearly when Rei gave a swat back in annoyance.

Minako only smiled at the two before her trying to contain some of her own emotions. She saw a level of playfulness in Rei. It seemed rude to most who didn't actually understand the real friendships that all of the girls shared but Rei had always had a level of affection for the somewhat childish Moon princess. It wasn't full blown love, nor was it just a sexual attraction. Minako didn't really know what it was, but, clearly whatever Rei felt was enough to help ease the emotions inside of the Martian. It was a rare thing to see indeed.

After a few more moments of seemingly childish banter Usagi calmed down a bit. "Anyway, I would very much like if you'd stay the night, it'll give me a chance to inform the girls of the situation. You two wouldn't be opposed would you?" Yes, as much as the blond princess of the moon could be childish, she had a regal manner about her, although it was normally very subtle.

"We will take you up on dinner and the overnight stay. I'd much like to speak with your mother regarding a few things I've found a personal interest in I'll meet back up with you when dinner is being served." Minako bid her friends a momentary farewell and went down the lavished steps into the main wing of the Moon's castle.

The Moon was a place of greatness for all of the planets it was trying to govern. In fact, it was becoming so advanced that each planet had set up a district catering to the advantages and values of each planetary princess. The Queen had planned it under the hope that one day all of the people of political standing could move right into the main castle itself.

Because of the large layout it took quite some time to get past the rooms used for meetings and other types of common business. From there Minako traveled down the path that broke off into several different directions. She ignored the ones that divided off into separate wings, instead choosing to go down the middle hallway where the residence quarters began. She followed the simple floor plan from there to get to the next line of offices that were reserved for only royal meetings. Beyond that was another set of doors leading to a living space, but they weren't intended for humans. Those rooms belonged to the feline advisers that often visited from far of planets and other galaxies.

After passing even more living quarters that were much larger, obviously intended for bipedal creatures, the security began to grow tighter until a final room was reached. It was the Queen's personal sitting room. It wasn't her throne room, but rather, her hideout. She was often hiding away when her more womanly side took over, oftentimes forgoing any and all pretense of her being a Queen. Minako, knowing such formalities didn't exist beyond this point opened the door slowly, not bothering to call out in warning.

The furniture was comfortable, but by no means overly obvious to be something royalty would own. It was actually kind of worn in and gaudy. The end table and chairs much the same. It looked like a television room found in most common households, but that was likely that allure of the place. It was a room that didn't need to be perfect, and, it was the only room in the palace that most found acceptable to be a slob. Well, a slob by royal standards at the very least.

The Queen had a displeased look on her face as she sampled a cupcake from its foil, not bothering to plate it elegantly. The milk was in a standard glass and the carton was still sitting on the counter as the queen rummaged around the small kitchenette attachment for something. It was quite humorous in Minako's eyes. Finally the object of interest was found and she turned her attention to her guest, a slight bit of frosting smudging the side of her lip that she quickly removed with her tongue. "Please have a seat." She chirped casually. "Would you like something to drink? Tea perhaps?"

"Yes. I would love some." Minako nodded as she took a seat in a chair she often frequented when visiting this far off corner of apparent inadequacy. If the general public only knew of the Queen and her sweet tooth, they'd know where Usagi picked up such habits. "I hope you don't mind me stopping by, but, I do have a few things I'd like to speak with you about. I was hoping you'd be willing to lend me an ear without the fur ball around." Minako joked lightly in reference to Luna and her more strict guidelines regarding castle protocol.

"Oh please." The Queen laughed slightly. "She isn't that bad." She placed a tea bag into hot water and laughed at the casual amenities. Sure, it wasn't exactly what one would call the best of tea, but it was tolerable by far. This back room was nothing if not simplistic. Servants weren't even allowed back here, if at the very least so that some peace from the outside could be maintained. "You know any of you girls are welcome to see me any time." She smiled softly as she placed the mug of steeping tea on Minako's end table before taking a seat in the chair across from her, enjoying her own cold milk instead of hot tea. "So, what is it you'd like to converse with me about?"

"Well, it's about the galactic treaty being formed. I know this is more of a matter I should speak with my mom about, but, I'd rather bring this to you personally." Minako started slowly, not fully knowing how to speak her mind without offending about half of the population on the Moon. When she got a nod to continue she fidgeted momentarily. "I'm not sure how to say this properly mind you." she paused again. "I think this may be a mistake forcing such extents upon some of the planets, but, since each planet knows only particular parts, I think there may be…underlying issues…if you get my meaning."

"Yes, that was a concern for everyone." The Queen nodded as if that was something being dealt with constantly, and in all honesty, it was. "That is one of the major driving forces and also one of the reasons that other arrangements and laws are being passes as we speak. It is a slow tedious process. It cannot be something that we rush through. I know many planets have reservations. You aren't the only one to speak to me on such things, Haruka and Michiru also made their views known a short time ago. Setsuna is also very displeased."

"I figured they'd be some of the first, but, my reservations are on a more personal level." Minako stated seriously. "Venus doesn't accept or allow forced wedlock. One chooses to wed due to love and devotion. I know of the prearranged weddings, and, while some like Rei and planet Mars will merely accept it, my planet won't be so easily bought by such things. I worry for the welfare of my planet since I am one of two heirs."

"That is correct." The queen nodded. "I know well of your fears regarding status, it was made even more apparent when we discovered Zoisite wasn't a male. All the inner planets fear alignment with Earth and I must correct that. These weddings will do just that, or so I hope." She took a moment to close her eyes in careful concentration before smiling only slightly. "Besides, I know all too well what you feel for Rei and the other girls."

Minako took a large gulp of her tea, if only to stall her response. "I don't really want to speak of my feelings; I know you are adept enough to be as skilled as my mother is such situations. That is a job of a political figurehead after all." She took another sip of tea and then replaced her mug on the table, folding her hands in her lap. "I do want to address the fact that you have planned this to play out in a particular fashion, and, while I normally go along with Usagi's antics, you aren't her. I'm not sure if I can believe that the treaty has been set up properly, I just want to be clear that my future or those that I care about are also protected from the wrong doings of political power."

"You're concerned, and, I can respect that. I just feel the apprehension is misplaced, at least for now." After standing and removing the wrinkles in her clothing she gave one last look of reassurance. "If you feel so strongly, why not speak with the other planets yourself. The treaty was made to build bonds among other planets, not to sever any allies they may have. You have friends in the same position as you, why not speak with them."

"Wouldn't you think that would anger our parents?" Minako asked almost as if she could see the scheming grin on the Queen's face.

"All I said was to speak with your fellow princesses; I never said what it was you would converse about." When Minako stood from her seat as well she was embraced by the older woman and also greeted with a low tone of voice. "Besides, if you think we were angels as children, you are poorly mistaken. We did a few things too, and your mother and Rei's father are amongst the two with the littlest room to talk." With that she let go of the smaller blond.

"You're not going to elaborate, are you?" Minako asked with a smirk, now highly interested.

"Let's go get dinner." The queen replied. She didn't even bother to stop the smile from spreading across her face.

TBC~~~

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Please read and review.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: This chapter isn't a Rei/Minako chapter, but, I assure you it will play an important role later. Please read and review.

I do not own Sailor Moon. I am merely a fan of this great series.

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Chapter 8: Time's Slow Progression.

Setsuna placed her communicator away after having just been informed of the situation. Rei and Minako needed more time. Surely the Time guardian knew this, yet she played along with the whim of fate. Sighing she closed her eyes and looked to both past and present. Searching for something seemingly unimportant now that would prove more useful later, although she wasn't sure why she knew such things. She disregarded the sight after a moment. Her face was void of emotion, yet she was content with simply that. What she saw would remain in her mind. It wasn't a concern for anyone and such a small thing wasn't a threat to anything, other than her shirt.

"I am sorry you must stay here longer." Setsuna said softly. The Senshi of time wasn't like the other Sailor Senshi. She had seen and visited all of the other planets and, she, being the eldest, knew well of all the politics involved and had seen far more years as a political figurehead than any of the other Senshi would ever hope to have. It was her job as a mage after all. Her situation wasn't mainly combative; rather she had to sustain an element far more complex than any of the other girls. Acting as an adviser was one of the many tasks granted, but, her official title was to serve fate.

Only one word would echo into the mind. Overwhelming…

In every way possible the tasks she had would forever bog the woman down. It was a complex thing that no Sailor Senshi could understand fully, not even Setsuna herself. Her job was to do what fate wanted of her to perform. She never really understood all of the reasons behind her tasks, but, that was a higher power. She wasn't meant to know.

Needless to say, because of the extreme complexity of her duty as a Senshi, the girls had been staying with her through the full two weeks. The more time they had to understand, the better it was. Still, the ways of a mage were hard to understand. Setsuna was one of few who would even begin to grasp her powers, but, that was just her way.

"Its fine, it figures that sod's law would play into the equation." Makoto sighed thinking of the old expression. "Hopefully someone's finally come out of the sand so to speak."

"I do not think that was called for." A frown was earned as a further response. "What does that expression even mean?" The tall woman stood to refill the ornate teacups as she awaited an answer.

Makoto chuckled. "It's whatever can go wrong will go wrong. I know you know of that law."

"I do believe you mean Murphy's Law." Setsuna corrected. "Trust me when I say that it would do you well not to be so crass in the future." As she placed the teacup down on the table in front of Makoto she gave a small, sad smile. Lonely could be the best description. Crimson eyes seemed to darken and lighten even as her emotions flowed through her.

Even with her eyes so vibrantly seeking warmth her voice and face remained the same over all. "You will be a fine leader for your people once you are willing of the task. I am actually astounded that you have not been granted the title given the situation." Her words were soft and flowed of her tongue with little hesitation.

"I know…it's a first for my planet." With a small nod Makoto proved that she knew well of the state of affairs. "I can't take the throne until I have a proper wedding. I don't see any suitors and let's just say that I'd rather not vow my undying love to a general of earth. I know Rei isn't fond of the idea, but she'll do what she must." As she pulled some of her long auburn hair out of her face she continued. "Personally I'm with Minako on the subject. If I have to marry him, fine, if he tries to sleep with me, he's a dead man."

"It does seem like our generation has been raised to be a bunch of man haters." Setsuna's voice gained a slight humor in her quiet tome. Her home was one where people like Makoto were a rare find. "I've never seen you associate well with men at all."

"I'm not a man hater, none of us are." Makoto shot back quickly, almost fearful of being judged. "We just have wishes in mind of who we want to be with. This is going to take away our rights as human beings. I can't allow that." She had quickly added to ease her own tension. She took a quick sip of her tea almost spilling it in the process.

"We are not human." It was a very clear answer. One with a hint of jealousy behind the words, but, it would be very hard to see if it had even been there. "Our job, our mission, is in our hands alone. No human can do, or should do, what we must." Makoto huffed seemingly ignoring the stern look and Setsuna softened only slightly. "I still do not see why you are so adverse about taking the responsibilities of what you must do seriously. It is the place of duty as a princess to wed and lead her people. Giving birth to an heir is a part of that." It was only occasionally that someone spoke loudly and against the will of fate. It was a costly mistake to make, of that Setsuna knew well.

"I'll lead my people. Jupiter won't play games with planetary issues, however as you know Jupiter, as well as all of the other planets have their own board of directors and counsel to handle particular jurisdictions." Makoto took another sip of tea; even she knew when she was acting indignant, however unlike Rei she didn't care about her blunt attitudes no matter who stood in front of her. "I can't even have a voice until I do get married, it's not like I have a choice. I'll be forced into a wedding one day, and personally I think that's an ideal that will only make us fail in the long run."

"Perhaps you are correct." Setsuna placed a hand on her chin as if pondering something. "However, I have seen a vast part of the universe and how it works." She paused, trying to gauge her words carefully. "The problem is, despite how much I have seen, I have not witnessed it all. There is room for error on our part. This is why we must be mindful of how we do things. Just as fate can affect us, we can cause the effects of fate to change and altar slightly."

"You deal with fate then; I'll deal with it after I make sure it won't screw me over first." Makoto's words were venom, but not directed at anyone in particular. "Let's speak of something other than what we can't control, or things we don't know about fully."

"Very well, as I'm sure you know I am required of other duties other than parading around as just a servant to both Serenity and fate." She took out her staff and knelt to the floor as a small child came bounding through the door with a far taller woman in tow. "My job also entails looking after her." She said as the little one ran into Setsuna's arms. Such a small child, so innocent, so sweet, was a child that most would hate and cast aside. "This is the child of the condemned, Hotaru, Sailor Saturn."

The child was a toddler in age, quite cute if one took the time to really look at her. Makoto had to question for a moment if this child was really the dark child. The child of hate and malice that killed everyone in her wake was someone to be feared. This girl was too small for that, far too innocent, but, perhaps that was what made her so deceiving. No one would fear a child so small she was still practically a baby. What baby could kill? What small child knew hard to cause that kind of harm? She couldn't hurt a bug let alone an entire planet. At least, Makoto wished to hope as much.

"She was born?" The question was rushed, almost panicked. Makoto had only heard rumors of what the child's mere existence brought. None of it could be considered good. The end of creation grew near if the child had been born. Makoto shut her eyes, trying to keep the bile where it belonged finding it almost too hard to do. "I thought…" She swallowed and tried again. "She's not…" Shaking her head the words would not come from her voice. Her stance spoke all of what she thought. This child shouldn't be here. Not now, and hopefully not ever.

"A childlike innocence, so pure and frail will be born to serve that of fate. She is well known for her powers of malice. It is ironic that she was born. An unforeseen force prevents us from knowing why, but if fate wishes her birth we shall welcome her." The Queen of Pluto, Trista, was quite the elderly woman. You'd never know it to be true with how slowly she aged. She had been around a long time. Setsuna was exempt from most of her duties until the woman known as her mother passed on. Because of this, Setsuna had other tasks to worry about.

"The kid is a pipsqueak." Makoto laughed with apprehension as she playfully tapped the little one on the nose. She wanted to run, but, what kind of person would she be if she ran from a child. She too came from a planet of strong people after all. Her brash attitude was her way of hiding her feelings. This child was carnage in the most fearful form. If this was the infamous Sailor Saturn she should be exiled and killed so that she couldn't do the foretold harm. She shouldn't be allowed to live. Yet, if all of the legends were true then why…a sort of light finally struck Makoto as she realized…

"She's afraid of me…" Her words were softened as Hotaru flinched. The small girl didn't know who the person in front of her was, and she clearly would rather it stayed that way as she buried further into Setsuna. "She's not Saturn. She can't be." Scoffing she walked out of the doors, fear was still in her features and as she walked away she was trailed by none other than Trista herself.

The great Queen of agelessness.

"She is not Saturn." Trista confirmed as she stood outside the room that Makoto had run from. "But, she will grow into the roll. She is a baby born of fate; if fate wishes her existence we shall not question it, for now at least." Looking at the child it was confirmed that the little one still had a humanoid growth rate. That meant it was safe for the time being. "We will only fear her once she is that of a teenager and able to utilize her power."

A smile, a real smile, donned Setsuna's lips. One of joy, even if she was reserved was something beautiful. It was a rare sight to behold and something that captured Makoto's full attention as she watched from afar. Hotaru caused that smile. "The kid isn't all bad." The tall brunette smirked devilishly at the old Queen who was also watching at the door. "You know, that's the first real sign of happiness I've seen in her yet."

"They are sisters in a small way. That is why Setsuna finds joy in the child. She wants to protect her I think." The words were oddly spoken and if one were to question, they would have though the emotion to be melancholy. "I wanted to protect her too."

Emerald eyes were more focused on the small child who was running around and Setsuna playing along rather than the conversation at hand. Still, even in such a trance her mind had input a title far different for Setsuna and the little girl. "She's acting like a mother." The words were something seeking answers as if her eyes couldn't comprehend a Setsuna who smiled. A true genuine smile was on her face; what's more, she was playing with the child. Something most thought Setsuna incapable of doing. "She never did that with us…but with her…"

"Hotaru and my daughter both have a heavy burden to carry. Hotaru is that of a rare origin, one not born of a womb, at least not normally." Makoto turned her head to look at the Queen. Her full attention focused on what she was hearing now. Almost as if she was shocked. "The child known as Hotaru is a sign that things and people do not last forever. As her name implies everything must end someday and yet for Setsuna and any mage of fate, ending isn't something we can do. I think that's what makes them so close… those two aren't in your world. Setsuna is still very much a child despite her appearances, do not forget this."

"Please…" Makoto didn't believe that. Setsuna was many things…but a child, or childishness wasn't one of those things. "Like I can really believe that. Let's compare. Usagi is like a big baby and Minako is like a bratty little sister sometimes. Hell, even Rei and I still act like stubborn kids on occasion, but, Setsuna? Come on, that's just a stupid thing to say."

"You see her as an adult? Is that because of who she is…or is it merely her age you judge her by?" Makoto wanted to say something but was quickly hushed as Trista pointed back into the room. Laughing, both the small giggles of a child and the melodic laughter of a woman graced the ears of those who observed. "Would an adult do that?" With the sofa overturned and pillows turning into a small fort it was clear that it did look quite childish. Children did that, but, so did Usagi, so the comparison wasn't a deciding factor for Makoto.

"She is an adult. I can see it." Makoto nodded as if she had made her choice.

"She is in age, but, Setsuna is still like you. She's merely a wayward teen lost in this world. Wanting what she cannot have and envying what others have attained. She questions things, she cries when she's alone, and, what you see here is her childlike innocence. This is the side she cannot afford to show outwardly. She is an adviser and has been raised to be everything better than perfection, but, she is still very much like you. She seeks so much more than what she can have, and it can be a painful experience. The future will force her to suffer even more one day, fate isn't always kind to everyone and she will be even more troubled. This childlike appearance will soon dissipate into nothing."

As Trista pulled forth her own staff that governed time and space she sighed inwardly. "Only Hotaru and one other baby will bring her happiness, until that day she will suffer a great deal, most of it will come at the action of her own doing. That is our job, our fate is governed by things we do not understand and sometimes, though we hate to do what we do, it must be done. Anything we do is done because it must happen. Nothing is an accident when done by the will of fate. Understand this." She didn't say farewell or pardon herself as she called forth the gates and stepped through leaving Makoto at the palace.

The gates were eerily silent as the sounds of slow footfalls marked Trista's travels. She walked through many doors seeing the future that would be lain on a path not clearly defined and ever changing. Her mind was focused on a future not out of reach, but, it was a long wait. A simple house in Japan was where the woman ended up. A blond was being yelled at by a woman of aqua tresses for making a mess with car oil as two children played in the grass.

Her daughter, Setsuna hadn't aged a day and yet she looked far more the mage she should be. She stood alone, but, she was happy and it was very evident in her face. That smile, though more adult, was still there. Her watchful gaze made sure to keep an eye on them. Calling them when they got too close to the street and being sure to be mindful of the messy driveway. This was the job of a mage. To observe and protect from afar, but, to not hinder what will happen anyway. The next turn of events proved that to be truth.

The children ran around in circles. Childish, yes, these girls had little to worry about. One of raven hair wasn't sickly anymore as she played a game of tag. The one in pink tresses ran with reckless abandon and tripped on her shoelace. It was then, and only then, that Setsuna stood up and walked over, tying the shoe into a double knot. "Bunny ears" she was calling it. As the kids went back to the game it was clear. This was the mother she would be. One day, far from what Setsuna knew of now, she would be a mother for the little girl known as Hotaru. Until then, Setsuna was still a child, still innocent in her own right. It would be a long hard road of lessons before she could be seen as the adult everyone made the girl of green tresses out to be.

TBC~~

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Please leave a review. I promise Minako and Rei will be back next chapter.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: We are back in present day with Minako's point of view. I hope you enjoy, please read and review. We will return back into the past after this short break. This takes places during the series of Sailor Moon as a whole.

Minako struggles with thoughts and feelings and we take a glimpse into her warring emotions dealing with her memories and coming to terms with things. You may feel many things, especially confused. That is because I WANT you to feel what Minako may have felt like during a few particular moments in her life.

Again, this is to help with her character analysis so that we may view Minako in lights that although we may have seen, we haven't muddled into a thought process she may be prone too.

I do not own Sailor Moon.

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Chapter 9: Minako's Memories.

Minako POV

The moon was at one point a wondrous place. Peace and prosperity came before greed and malice. Because we were in such times, we forgot a lot of the values our ancestors were raised to fear. I think that perhaps Queen Pluto, Trista, knew that fact better than anyone else. She had said many times our selfishness would be the womb for a great battle. None of us really knew how right she was.

Most of us were too young to care. We were stubborn and wanted things that weren't ours to have. Even Setsuna, who should have known better, fought against fate. We broke many laws, favoring our own hearts over our destiny. No one could really say how it started, but, I tend to believe that it had begun after my proposal to send all of the princesses to visit other planets. We were friends, not rivals. I think we forgot where our true loyalties should have been.

No matter what anyone says, we were just kids. Teenage girls, lost and feeling alone in many ways. They expected of us too much, and we gave ourselves too much credit in knowing what was for the best. We should have listened. At least, that's what I think. Reflecting back on our past is confusing. For me, it's hard to say what happened and when.

The fall of a kingdom wasn't caused by us, but, I can't help but feel like we made it worse.

We had a hand in stopping any preventive measures from happening. Our constant fighting amongst our families was the blame. We wanted too much for ourselves, and others suffered. After the fall, we, the Sailor Senshi in charge of caring for Usagi, were granted a second chance. This allowed us a rebirth many years in the future. That's what my life is now, but, even so, I know who I am, and, what I was.

My memories are clear. As a result, I've come to a few personal conclusions about myself and those I care about.

Firstly, I am not the Senshi of Love. People say Venus means love, but, I know better than that. Usagi, she is the real embodiment of love. I am merely a Senshi of Emotion. I have done things Usagi would never do. I even faked my own death. All because I couldn't take the real heat of the term I am supposed to resemble. I get lost, I feel anger, and hate.

I may say that I'm a love goddess, but we all know the truth. I have passed judgment where Usagi never has, and, she never would. The more she matures, the more she loves; I am not such a person. That's Usagi, she's pure. Well, as pure as any mortal could be. Therefore, I am not merely a Senshi of Love. This brings me to my first conclusion.

I am a Senshi who wants love, I fight for such a feeling, but I am not love in the purest of forms.

Subsequently, I may have the title of love due to the fact that I understand it better than most. That is also my flaw. I understand it so much that I hold back on the pain and great joy it can give. I know of it so well that I'm afraid of it. I allow my emotions to get the best of me. When they do, I find that others are drawn in negatively. I act before I think, or, I try and pretend. Playing with hearts…trying to understand myself.

That brought me to the second, rather painful conclusion: It is my job. Before my heart is fulfilled, before it becomes whole, I have other duties. One of them just happens to be that I must be hurt emotionally to learn properly. So that I, and the ones I love and protect, never repeat those same mistakes.

Finally, I am not only Sailor Venus, nor am I Sailor V, or Aino Minako. Titles and rank doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. Yes, I lead combat. Big frickin' deal. Anyone else around me could do the same. It's not hard to do when you realize that everyone must work as a team. Leading isn't the real problem. It's finding your way in this type of life.

I am what I am, nothing will change that. What, or rather, who I am? Well, I can honestly say, I've come to a point in my life that it is easier not to care. That's why the most important conclusion is that my job isn't actually to lead combat. That is only part of being a decent general. Rei could do that easily. Ami can be a better tactician hands down, and the list goes on and on. We all have that strength to lead and be led by each other. So what is my task then?

Simple, my task is to keep everyone together at times when our emotions are the easiest to be broken.

With all of that complexity in mind, I can see why being a Senshi would be too hard for most people. Still, I can't help but think that it's what I know now, that allows me to be a good leader. A better one than I had been than in the past.

It is because I had been hurt, that I know how to get back up again.  
It's because I've cried, that I can reassure those when in need.  
It is because of my suffering, I have the power within my easily ruined soul to actually care about others.

When I look to the past, the one I can clearly see and remember…well, let's just say the facts are clear as could possibly be. I've commit to memory my previous life, and, my love for Rei. It was a love that was so deep it actually hurt. It was biter, it was sweet, and in some ways it was tainted. I am not sure how to even place the pieces back into my heart, yet that is what I want to do most.

However, I am not Sailor Pluto. I can't read the timeline as it had happened down to the exact second. All I can do is remember what my eyes saw back doomed ourselves because of our emotions and logic. Still, I recall the old Sailor Mars better than Rei does right now. I know that I messed up. We all did. All in the name of a word I should embody.

Isn't that the best farce? The best slap to the face? Perhaps, it was one that we all needed.

I thought I knew what love was. Perhaps, in a small way, I did. We all knew emotions, but, as a princess of Venus I had to understand them better than anyone else. Not only in myself…I was expected to know about others around me too. I failed in doing that. We had other worries besides our relationships. We should have taken our roles far more seriously.

I should have known the meaning of the word. Sadly the realism didn't come until it was too late. Let's not romanticize the word.

Love was what made us deify our own parents.  
Love was what made us hurt.  
Love made us fight, and we destroyed everything we knew emotionally when we defied our destiny.

Finally when the Dark Moon attacked, there was nothing left to do but watch as our broken hearts became infected with the anger and hate that started to consume us. Lastly, love was what made a wonderful woman give her life to save us all.

It's such a demented thing, that word…love…that's the one thing that had power no matter what. Despite all of the hate I have for the word, no matter how conflicted I feel about it...the fact remains simple. Love is what's given us a second chance…a new life.

If we princesses had been born normal girls…well, no sense in wishing for the impossible. Even now, we live as normal teens with abnormal circumstances. It's sickening to tempt fate. We recognize this now. We have be acquainted with that truth almost a little too well. Only two of us remember, and one won't ever speak of it if she's not forced.

Anyway, fate is a sick thing. Irony has a way of making me want to go back to the old days and shake an angry fist at the younger, more disobedient, irresponsible me. Back then, I was more of a goof. Princess Venus wasn't as serious as I am now, but, I'm starting to lighten up. Being a class clown is a part of who I was, and, I think deep down the real princess needs that part of me back.

My reasons for acting like a total airhead can be pointed directly at Usagi and our past dreams.

We were given normality that we wanted long ago, yet, we are still the odd ones out. Planets where powers were common are nothing but wastelands. Earth, while I find it a decent place and all I've ever known, isn't the place of my dreams. It's not Venus. We won't ever be normal girls. Fate is murky and twisted like that. Never make a wish you cannot attain yourself, if you or another mortal can't grant it, fate won't either. Fate, in all of its sinister glory will only defile the wish.

That's why I act like I do.

It's all for our own little lie, our own little world. If anything, it's the occasional insanity that keeps us breathing at the very least. For example, laughter is said to be some of the best medicine. Having had to grow up learning how to kill, be it criminals or youma alike, I'd have to agree…

It's our little moments of idiocy that keep us from being as ill-tempered and cynical as the enemies we battle. They want revenge; they hate people and things for their very existence. It would be all too easy for all of us to be the same way. That's why acting like a little kid helps…sometimes. One would be amazed how much healing power it grants when you just do nothing but slack off and get into normal trouble.

On the outside most people wouldn't see why. Inside, we can see it. We are all hurting, but it kills me the most to look at Rei and see what I do.

Rei isn't the Mars I used to remember…not yet. It will take some time before she becomes the woman I fought so hard for. She's lonely, angry, and so many other things. I saw her like that in the past too. Outside of her place of safety she feels ache and suffering. She hasn't gotten her memories back fully. I fear, when she does see them, she'll revert even more.

It seems like the Shrine is to her now, what her planet used to be for her so very long ago.

I know our story isn't the best. It hurts; it always has and in a way, always will. I don't know what I can say to calm her. Sorry wouldn't be enough, and 'I love you' would be a vocal expression that back then we didn't know the true meaning of. I see Rei; I see the pain of what she feels and want nothing more than to take it all away. I wish I could, but that too is an empty desire that'll never be fulfilled. She hides within herself.

She will be this way for a long while. I see she is getting better, if only slowly.

She fights with Usagi like before, but it's forced and hesitant. In the past they had a deep love, but, it was more sisterly in many regards. Now Rei is more...jealous…and that emotion isn't aimed at Usagi, it's aimed at the fact she can't have Usagi. Rei has always had a slight aggressive streak, but, I've never seen her become so wanting for an unreachable person.

Well, I take that back. I was unreachable too because of our families…I guess Rei was like that, but, back then, so was I.

I might have missed her deeper feelings…even so, we have to move on. The lies and deception are long gone now. I know all too well there will be a day when she will need me. She will break when she sees what happens. I know that for a fact, because…that's exactly what I did.

That was why Sailor V helped the cops.

Sailor V could shoot a gun, she could get angry enough to pummel anything in her path.  
She would cry for the ones she lost.  
She laughed with the ones she saved.  
She was the embodiment of everything bittersweet such as losing the boy she loved.  
She faked her own death.  
She found herself running away from everything she thought she knew.

Sailor V was an empty shell of me…both Aino Minako and Sailor Venus.

That's why I feel as if I shouldn't define myself any more. I have other things I need to be doing other than burying away all of my sorrow. I am stronger than that. I'm not a weak little girl. I'm not a stupid blond, and, although I act idiotic, I'm far from it. I know the other Sailor Senshi know too. However, even if I know I'm stronger than that, sometimes it's hard to fully let go of things. There are nights when I do allow myself to feel the weight of my past.

Some scars are more recent, so, they take more time to heal.

As for the days on the now forgotten Moon? Well, we were just stupid kids. Nothing more than that, I remember a fire in her eyes. A fire I could feel rage through my own blood. It was one wishing for hope and solace. One that would never be fully granted. The hope for a bright future always mocked us. It was just within reach, but, it wasn't solid, so, we could never grasp onto it. We gave up in the end of it all.

We lost our fight because we didn't know how to win.

Now…yeah, we are still idiot teenagers trying to find our way in life. Normality isn't really helping, but, now we can at least play pretend. Instead of pretending we are dashing knights and princesses who actually have a choice, we pretend we are normal. Shopping and eating our way through the day, playing videogames, and going to schools with other teens our age. That is the lie we live. Our little game of pretend.

It is a part of us, but should something happen, that normality shatters quickly.

My mind will slowly recollect itself. It will bring up more things into my mind. More thoughts…more worry. I won't let it get the best of me. I can't and I won't. I have been given a second chance, and, I will accept it willingly. I've had to fall hard a few times to understand who I really am. Even if I remember, I must also accept the fact that I only remember what I saw personally.

Emotions are a conflict, I don't care about titles, and I love a girl named Hino Rei. Life can and will go on despite everything I feel confused about. It doesn't matter what fate decides. I'm a victim, I'm also a cause, and I'm so many other things. I care about too many people to count, and in all honesty I'm just one big mess aren't I? When I think about it too much my head starts to hurt and I wonder why the hell I think so much. Other times I think about things too little.

That brings me to this last conclusion. It is the one my mind always comes back too. It's the one positive. The one breath of fresh air among all of the hurt I can feel, it's the thing that reminds me to keep going, the one that tells me it's ok to remember, and it's ok to let go.

We were given a second chance…what more of an answer do I really need than that?

TBC~~~~

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Please leave a review. I know the chapter was short, but it was also complex, that's why I kept it short. Simplicity will be back for the next chapter.

Man, working on this thing at 3:30 in the morning can really give one a migraine...


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Ah how very nice it is to get some free time to do another chapter. Back to the past we go!

I do not own Sailor Moon.

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Chapter 10: Trip to Venus.

"Can you look any more aggressive?" Minako stated more than asked as they made their way to the castle the blond called home. "Come on, before you bite another person's head off with your glare." She said dragging Rei along by the arm. The chastisement was warranted.

Rei had scared off the four people in the last five minutes. "Don't blame me…" She shot back quietly. "What would you rather me do? Show these people where to shove their idea of a friendly hello?" That was the issue with Martians. Their thoughts were easily read. This could cause adverse effects, just like right now. Any idiot would be able to see that Rei was annoyed. Most on Venus not only saw the annoyance, they could feel it and hear the strong thoughts of distaste from Rei's inner mind.

"You know, he was only doing his job." The look was rueful, but, she did understand. Minako would have been scared too if she hadn't known Rei personally. "Why don't you politely tell them to leave you alone instead of giving them death threats? You may find it works just as effectively."

"Or I can keep looking like this and those jerks can decipher of it what they may like." To say that Martians, especially Rei, were normally pleasant creatures would be an understatement for most people. Rei, for as soft and inviting she could be, also had a very heated temper. It just so happened that this temper was one of the many reasons she hadn't been selected as the leader in combat. One needed to be calm in hard times.

"My, aren't we in a pleasant mood." The sarcasm was laced with a tinge humor. The look and thought Rei gave for that remark was very explicit. It was also very incorrect when in public. The blond only laughed and replied in the same crass manner. "I will be sure to do that later…for now keep you're more nocturnal thoughts to yourself."

"MINAKO!" The indignant shout fell to a low and very annoyed level and then back into another shout. "Get…out…of…my…HEAD!" Then she whispered in an overly animated fashion. "I know you happen to think this is funny, but, I am NOT amused."

"I can see that." Minako brushed off the statement before trying a more direct tactic. "If you know we can feel your emotions then why not try too…oh I don't know, stop thinking so adamantly?" The raven only growled in anger before Minako sighed, pulling the girl off the direct pathway and into a small corner of the large city block. "I'll call for a carriage; walking and you don't mix right at this moment." Minako turned around to head back into the busy street life before giving a direct warning. "Stay here. I'll be back shortly."

Rei did as she was told, sending intimidating glares to all who passed by. She honestly didn't see why the supposed palace was shoved smack dab into the middle of the largest and most populated city. She could feel her mind getting out of control and as a result, she felt the others around her prodding into her consciousness. If it had been up to her, she would have caused quite a few street brawls right about now. The only thing stopping her was the warnings she had been given about Minako's people.

Rei shivered as she felt it again.

That sickening feeling was one Rei only allowed a few people to do unconditionally. All of those people could be counted on one hand. When Minako or Queen Serenity did it, she didn't mind in the least. The main reason being that it didn't make her feel ill. Usagi, being less experienced, could sometimes have a negative effect on Rei, but she didn't fault the blond for it. Nine times out of ten, the up and coming Moon Princess couldn't control it.

Most on Venus could control their powers on an expert level. That is, if they had wanted too. Rei was a new sight to behold. It was clear in her manner of dress and the sword at her hip. She wasn't as fair toned, nor was she that of blond or tawny colored hair. She was far stronger looking, and her clothing was sewn of simple cloth. As a result she was fair game, and reading emotions were what the people of Venus considered a handshake.

Rei not only thought it to be invasive; she found it dangerous, rude, and very taxing in her entire being.

Many weren't shy about their presence. It was as if she was a new freak in town. She hated that feeling. As yet another person allowed themselves to seep into her awareness she finally gave out. Her eyes shut, her mouth went dry, her hearing was lost, and all she knew was the feeling of being alone in the seemingly eternal darkness. Unfeeling and unknowing even as Minako carried her to the carriage.

It would be awhile until Rei's senses returned.

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Minako sighed for the umpteenth time that day as she tended to Rei's condition. This was why Martians were easily taken advantage of. To read into even a single emotion wasn't something that was done without some type of reaction. For most, it was a rather obvious thing. The feeling of violation was the most common thing. Many people of Venus didn't even see it as a violation of privacy. For them it was just normality. However, if you weren't used to the situation it would be easy to be overwhelmed.

Especially if that someone had the mental prowess that Rei had at her disposal.

It had been four hours since the incident and quite honestly Minako had fully expected far worse effects. Rei wasn't vomiting, had no fever, and she had enough awareness that her body reacted, even when her senses were so dulled. Rei's hearing and sight came back the quickest, but her sense of touch was still highly questionable.

"I...not…out there…again." She slurred incoherently. Violet eyes were still glazed over in a mild, tired, confusion. Hazily Rei knew she had a cool cloth on her head, but she still had that prickly feeling in her body. The numbness was the annoying type. It was the kind that made her feel as if something, like a bug or a feather, had been there yet no trace would be left. That type of restlessness, the painful yet tingly sensation that made it hard to move, and yet made you feel as if you needed to move. You'd do anything at all, just to make it stop.

"Don't talk." The melodic and quiet voice rang out. "You'll be alright." The wet cloth was removed from Rei's head only to be replaced with a delicate hand, as if checking for a temperature. Minako was being as quiet as she could possibly be, and yet the noise was too loud for Rei's ears.

It was very fascinating to experience…and exceptionally painful. Light in any form wasn't a welcome thing when one first opened their eyes back into the world of the seeing. Sounds boomed with vengeance within eardrums and often times the mixture of sensations caused a headache. Minako didn't say another word, having gone through such pain as a child many times. Instead she sat motionless, her breath making the only sound.

Rei faded in and out for the rest of the evening. Late night finally came around, and with it came her anxiety. She was finally able to take in her surroundings fully now that the light of day was gone. The room was brightly colored in yellows and oranges, although, right now, it looked only to be cream type colors. She knew this room well enough to know it was Minako's.

The floor was soft and feathery, carpeting well cared for. The bed large and plush gave utmost comfort, something Rei had been thankful for earlier. Slightly childish dressers were ones that had been around for years. The small white tea table sat with four chairs, a wicker basket kept playing cards as well as a few other accessories.

Minako often became a host and her room showed such facts.

The small doorway to the left of the bed led to another larger sitting area. That one was far more formal, and it became apparent that's where she would find the blond now. She was most likely asleep on the sofa that was almost out of Rei's line of sight. At least, that's what the raven wished inwardly.

This life style wasn't something Rei knew of. She felt both trapped and lost within the room, even if she was just sitting on the bed. It was both constricting and yet far too large. Slowly, she got up, her nomadic instincts kicking in, telling her to locate Minako above all else. Her bare feet almost flinched as she felt the carpet for the first time; it was as if she was walking on a cloud. She crept across the room quietly, and yet, always on guard. It seemed unsafe to be here like this.

"Rei?" A slightly tired voice came from behind her, causing the girl of raven tresses to flinch and stand stock still momentarily. "Are you ok? You look as if you've seen a fright." The voice was welcoming, but, it was clearly not Minako. The voice and speech were far too formal.

"I-I'm alright." Rei said as she turned and bowed her head. This was Minako's mother, the Queen of Venus. Her beauty was unmatched; the woman was one of perfection, her voice sultry in the hottest of times, and wintry in the fiercest of times. She was a woman who could be both sexually intimidating, and powerfully commanding. Rei felt herself to be a lowly peasant, simply because of the sure power this woman had.

Rei's mother, had she still been alive, would have been the first in command.

However, because her mother had passed on long ago it was the job of the woman before her to overtake the duties of both Venus and Mars where Queen Serenity was concerned. The galactic government was heavily dominated by women, and very strong ones at that. With both Mars and Jupiter without their Queens, that also meant that the inner Senshi guard were down two rulers, and with those rulers, they had lost planet power. It was these facts, in and of itself, that allowed Rei a deep respect for this woman.

"You sound frazzled." The woman's response was deadpanned, and yet, still so very soothing.

"I feel frazzled." Rei admitted softly as she stiffened, her head still looking at her feet. She could not look this woman in the eye, not this way, not when she was out of her league. She wasn't a strong woman of Mars here. All she was here was another princess, another delicate flower. She hated to be that way, but, she couldn't fight. Her sword was missing, and here before her was a woman who had been stronger than her very own mother. Rei couldn't face that.

"You feel more than frazzled." Again a matter of fact tone could sound like music in anyone's ears. "Is the daughter of Azar really so disheartened by my appearance?" Rei flinched at that. "I guess it is really so? Then…you take after your father." The Queen of Venus said softly. "Or perhaps I should address you as the daughter of Riza?"

Rei could only kneel to the floor. The woman had used her mother's birth name. Riza was a name of Arabic culture and meant "Satisfactory". As a woman born of Venus, she would have kept her birth name all of her life; however, because she married a Martian man, she took upon the tradition of changing her name. However there was a catch. Riza didn't want to leave her values of Venus behind.

That was when she had been gifted a different name, Still earth bound and yet very powerful.

The name Azar was Persian, and meant "Fire". It was the one thing her mother could wield; it was the power of Rei's planet. The fact that both names had been spoken was something to worry about inwardly. To say Rei felt ashamed was an understatement. "I am sorry for my weaknesses. I have yet to marry and take the throne; I have failed my people forcing my burden upon you in such a manner."

"Don't ever say such a vile thing." The woman reprimanded as she went to Rei, forcing her to stand and look her in the eyes. "I am the Queen of this planet, yet that makes me no more or less than you, or your mother for that matter. I am Sailor Venus, wielder to that of the powers of Aphrodite; however, I too have a name to that of the common populace." She let go of Rei, seeing the look of utter inequality. "Your mother was strong, no matter if your father speaks of that or not, she was. In more ways than just brute strength."

"Yes." Rei said obediently, refusing to argue the point. "I am sorry."

The Queen looked on, almost sad, tears welling within her eyes. Of course the Queen of Venus would wear emotions on her sleeve. "You are weak Rei…but it isn't because of the reasons you think." She paused for a moment, biting her lower lip, unsure if she should continue or not. Her answer came for her when Minako came through the door.

"Sorry the call took so long." The shorter blond said as she walked over to Rei's side. Noting the tense atmosphere, she continued to talk about what she had been doing. "Usagi wants to gather everyone at the end of this week for some sort of formal gathering. Mamoru will be visiting from earth and she wants all of us to be there." Her cheery voice was one that put both of the occupants at ease, if only slightly.

Sensing this would be a good time to make her leave, the Queen excused herself wishing Rei and Minako a good night's rest. As she closed the door and made her way down the hallway the two girls continued the conversation Minako had started.

"Will the other idiots be coming?" Rei sighed, unenthused by the entire prospect.

"Considering the fact that the generals are in charge of protecting Mamoru, I can't say that they wouldn't be coming." Minako answered back with the same deject feeling. "We aren't in a position to complain about it though. Usagi is always so happy with everyone under one roof; it isn't just Mamoru she misses. I think, behind all of that marriage talk the veiled hope she has is the same as her mother."

"What? Cram everyone into the same palace?" Rei ran a hand through her hair, disliking that idea tenfold. "I personally think that would be one of the worst idea's ever to be had. After all, the outer Senshi would easily be exempt from that. Look at Setsuna for a prime example. She doesn't have any real allegiance to the Serenity bloodline."

"Yes she does you dolt!" Minako laughed, Rei was rather dense at times like this. "Her allegiance is in the fact that she wants to help. Not to mention, don't you see her and Queen Serenity do strange things every now and then?"

"Strange as in give odd looks, tiptoe around each other, and totally disregard the fact that Setsuna is still a child of Trista, then yes, I have seen strange action take place." Rei then sighed again, leaning on the wall rather vehemently. "Even if I have seen that type of thing, we all know it won't happen. Setsuna is too by the book to actually disobey her mother or that of her preordained fate." A small smirk left her lips. "That would be like telling Queen Serenity to stop eating sweets. It would never happen."

"I never stated it would." The amuse voice replied. "All I stated is that Setsuna has a reason to be loyal, not that it would even pan out into anything besides loyalty. Besides, if I know my red strings, and I surely think I do, Setsuna would need to totally disregard her tasks if she were to find love."

"Are you guessing? Or do you have proof?" Rei yawned growing tired from her nerve-racking day. She needed more rest, and yet, she didn't really trust the area. It was then she noted Minako walking away from her. "Where are you going?"

"Bed. It's late and I just know you'll be up at the crack of dawn, since I can't sleep in, might as well sleep now." When Minako caught the look in Rei's eyes it was almost too amusing for her own good. Had Minako wanted to really anger Rei, she would have said something to that effect; however she just took pity, turning around, grabbing Rei's arm and dragging the girl to bed with her.

"May I help you?" Came the confused reply. "What gives? I'd be fine on the sofa in the other room."

"As a woman of Venus it wouldn't do to leave a lovely damsel in distress by forcing her to sleep alone on an uncomfortable chaise longue." Then she giggled. "Think of it as payback for forcing me to sleep in the sand, I played along on Mars, now you, must play along with me." As she said this she snuggled into Rei's side, trying not to laugh when Rei squeaked from the position.

"Can you at the very least stop snuggling into…there?" Rei begged slightly.  
"Nope. You're on Venus, just be glad you aren't naked and wreathing." Minako said in a humorous tone, yet the reality wasn't lost on Rei.  
"Please have mercy…." The quiet and very worried whisper broke out.

Minako couldn't contain the laughter that brought as she gently kissed Rei in the cheek, before snuggling up again. This time Rei made an attempt to move away, but Minako held fast. "Sleep Rei. I've got you in my arms, but that's all we are…I won't do anything, so go to sleep, alright?"

Rei huffed out an annoyed, yet relaxed breath at the remark. "Must you use my own words against me?"

"Yes I do. So in the words of the once brave Martian woman, go…to…sleep." Minako mocked before Rei finally took the hint. It would be a very long stay in Venus if Minako kept this up. Payback was a tough pill to swallow.

TBC~~~~

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Please read and review. Let me know what you think.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Sorry for the long wait on this next chapter. I had a momentary bout of writers block and the fact this chapter was hard to write didn't help. I hope this is sufficient enough for all of you. I know its short, but it is also slightly intense.

I do not own Sailor Moon.

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Chapter 11: Tearful Memories

Venus was a planet known for having only the finest of china, and the richest of meals served in the epitome of elegance. All of the meals were made for royalty. The floors newly polished, the bedding fluffed and the seating areas spic and span, very little could be frowned upon when it came to the grace and appeal of each room. Lavished in only the finest of silken cloths and studded in the best of gems, the palace on Venus was a place most could only dream of. That is, unless you were a Martian, like Rei.

The morning had come later than usual, and breakfast was served in the dining hall. The table was large, the food exquisite, and the services of the many servants were only outmatched by those that served the Serenity bloodline. Rei, being what she was in the eyes of many, knew only enough to barely look competent. Table manners weren't something one needed when you had a blade and a cooking fire at your disposal. She wasn't barbaric, but, her level of sophistication wasn't nearly as well polished as Minako's had been.

Breakfast was a struggle as Rei tried to pick the right utensil. Trying and succeeding could be considered two totally different things, and a few of the more obscure gadgets she forwent completely. After breakfast came a stroll in the flower garden. A light snack of tea and various sweets punctuated mid morning as it came to an end. After that, she sat and conversed with Minako, the blond explained some of the more boring details of being considered royalty, and then lunch beckoned them. All in all, it was a rather slow morning, and, one that Rei would have hated to live every signal day of her life. The lap of luxury just wasn't her idea of a good time.

If all of the perfection hadn't been enough, the fact that a guard was always following her made matters nearly unbearable. He was doing his job, opening doors, offing a seat, and making Rei as comfortable as possible, yet that was the exact problem. She would give anything to fall face first in sand, or at least dirt or mud. As wrong as the thought sounded, she just couldn't take it anymore and dearly wished that the guard would just go away.

"Would you stop stalking me?" She hollered indignantly as she sat on the floor. "I can take care of myself."  
"It would not do well to betray the request of Princess Minako." The guard said softly. "I am only a humble servant."  
"Who I could kill in an instant!" Rei growled back. "I'm a Martian, not some doofy looking guard. Unlike you, I know how to fight sans a weapon."  
"I think that would be a very bad idea miss. Here on Venus we are about emotion and compassion." The guard wasn't the smartest man alive.  
"I'm very compassionate about unleashing my rage!" Rei was now highly perturbed. "Go away or I'll give you my idea of compassion!"

Minako was watching the scene from afar as she dried her hair with a towel. Her smile was filled with humor unprecedented in the blond as she tried to keep quiet. Rei yelled at the man a little more before he finally backed off, hiding from the girl he had just enraged. The girl of raven tresses wished she could take her sword and swing it around, even just a little bit. They thought her a barbarian, so why should she act in a civilized manner. It was logical in its own way. Minako, taking care to remember the events of the previous night, refused to think ill of Rei's actions.

Rei huffed annoyed, leaning on the wall. She was muttering about this and that, anything and everything that had annoyed her in the past twenty four hours. Minako, pleased that her guest wouldn't be likely to tear anyone to shreds went to dress quickly, leaving Rei unaware that she had been watched. It was amusing when one thought about it, which Minako promptly did until her thoughts were broken by her mother's voice.

"Interesting girl that one is." The older blond looked thoughtful, if not conspiratorially trying to plan trouble of her own. "She has quite the temper."  
"Well, you would too in her shoes." Minako spoke quietly, as she brushed her hair. "She's not all that bad really, well, when she's left alone."  
"The same could have been said for her mother. A fine woman, but, it didn't mean she took things in an orderly fashion." The Queen smiled at the memory.  
"Rei doesn't know but about her you know, and, I get the feeling you dropped Rei down a few more pegs than you had intended." Minako warned.  
"I didn't mean to do anything of the sort." The queen looked confused, if not highly worried about that admittance.

Minako put down her brush, taking in a breath of air before shaking her head. "I don't expect you to understand. Just promise me you'll leave Rei be about her mother. She doesn't know and it's clear that she's conflicted about finding out. You should know by now, Rei isn't her mom, and I just don't see why you see the similarities you do." With this she stepped into her walk-in closet, picking up a dress that complimented her curves while allowing the casual elegance know for that of Venus.

"She looks like her, but besides that…" The Queen of Venus trailed off, unsure of what to think or how to speak. She was at a loss for this particular instance, the scars of the past still readily available in her mind. "Look, Rei's mother was a strong woman, but, we Senshi aren't invincible, that's why the new clause had been put into place."

"You mean the one about marriage and an heir before one can take the title?" Minako had heard whispers about the facts, but, she hadn't been privy to the truth of why a clause was created for that particular situation. As she sat down, her mother proceeded to help Minako with her bow, making sure it looked perfect.

"Yes." The Queen started slowly. "Some very bad things happened in the past when I was just a girl your age, if not a little older. Rei's mother was lost only a few short years after she gave birth, however, Makoto's parents both suffered the same fate. That's why we are missing their planet power now. It's not right for Venus to take on the tasks of Mars. Mercury carries the burdens of Jupiter, and as a result we cannot risk losing any more Senshi. That was why the law was placed into action."

"And that's also why we must wed and give birth before we can take the title of Senshi from your hands." Minako nodded understanding. "But, please, don't bug Rei about it. She's already stressed out enough, and, I can't say I'm pleased about the whole arranged marriage idea either." She sighed as she stood; finding proper fitting heels that matched the dress. "I really like Rei and I don't want her to be hurt. She needs to figure this out without her mother getting in the way of it."

The Queen nodded and watched her daughter take her leave out the door and down the hall where Rei was still agitated. The Queen of Venus took a seat, pulling out the transformation pen of Mars, the one thing left of the entire fiasco. It was nothing more of a memento, something that held memories of both a happy, yet warring time. "You girls just don't have any idea…what we went through." She spoke too no one particularly, and yet, she wished all of the girls could hear her.

~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~

"It won't do you any good to grieve for me. I served my reason for being." The ill woman coughed as she looked onward at those around her.  
"That's ridiculous!" A woman cried out almost as painfully as could be. "You promised if we ran away, we'd be alright. Now look at you!"  
"You're right, if we ran, we would be alright. That was what I thought, but I was wrong." The woman of raven tresses coughed again, her mind slightly hazy.  
"Riza…" The tearful eyes of blue found that of paled lavender. "You can't mean that. Not after we fought so hard."

"Listen to me." The woman's eyes, though very ill commanded what her voice no longer could. "I will pass on one day. We know this, and I refuse to run away anymore. My days are fleeting, and you will bear a child soon too. We aren't children anymore, and I refuse to leave anything unfinished. Azar is my name…in a way; it was my fate, just as this is my fate."

"Damn fate!" The blond cried, clinging onto the woman before her. "I don't care about fate, bloodline or anything anymore! I just want you healthy again. I don't want to know what I saw, what I knew. I want it to go away…"

"I know, I know." Riza nodded, fully understanding the sentiment. "However, once you have your baby, you'll look into her eyes and realize that you're her mother, she is your responsibility, and you will take a step back and think…" As she stroked long blond tresses she continued. "You'll hope you do well, and be everything you can be, if only to make sure your little girl doesn't repeat our mistakes. We were wrong, I know now we were wrong. You'll know it to be true one day."

"Why do bad things happen…why did it happen to you?" the woman in blond tresses asked, hoarse from emotion. "Why not me?"

"I refuse to question it." Azar smiled a sad smile, sniffling a bit. "I'll say this once, and only once. It was my fault, and my sin to bear. If I had known I was with child, I would not have run. I am ill, but the baby is fine and I am happy she has not suffered from my poor judgment. My life, I'd give it in her steed, she is going to be a baby of a mother who didn't even know she existed until I entered battle. She will be gifted my tasks, but she is merely an unborn baby. I cannot ask her such a burden." As she pulled out her transformation pen she sighed. "Please…"

"Say no more." The woman in blond said with affirmation. "I'll hold this until she is ready…"

"One more thing." Azar smiled, eyes pleading. "If you give birth to a child, do as the Serenity bloodline does." She grabbed the blonds' hand, kissing it lightly. "They've always said that of Earth and Venus were like sisters. In a small way, you and rabbit ears are very much like that." Then she pulled the woman before her into a hug. "I've always loved your name. Aino Minako, bearer of love and beauty, Sailor Venus the power Aphrodite. It is such a fitting name. If you ever birth a daughter, name her after you…for me…ok?"

~~~~~~End Flashback~~~~~~

It had been years since that fateful day when they had found out about the illness, that illness had taken the first child before her birth had occurred. The King of Mars, he loved Azar and protected her with his life. It was only later that year that Aino Minako wed, adopting into the family a tall, if not shy child, whom they had assumed would be the heir. Only a few short months after that, the news of a birth created the buzz of the castle. That birth had resulted in twins. One boy and one girl.

The promise had been kept, the woman, now the title of Azar had celebrated the birth of the twins, also seeking one of her own. It was something she dearly wanted, when she was to frail for fighting, her protective duties no longer her issue. The King loved her, and agreed that he too wanted a child. That was how Rei was conceived later. "I am a gifted woman." Azar would say time and time again. She even got too see the girls share their first few years of life together before she passed on.

As The Queen pocketed the transformation pen, she thought aloud. "I wonder what she would say if she saw them now?"

"She would laugh I bet." The eldest daughter had come waltzing into the room, uncaring if she was intruding.  
"Even in her worst moments she always smiled." The Queen agreed. "I just wish Rei knew how wonderful her mother was."  
"Sis is right. You shouldn't talk about it yet. It's still a raw nerve for a lot of people." The girl looked on somberly, her short dark hair falling into her eyes.  
"Kuri…are you sure you've given up the throne? That leaves only your sister left for the task." The Queen looked on worried.

"Listen, Minako should be the one to do it. I was some kid off the street, and, while I do love and care about this planet, Minako is your real child." She smiled her soft, quiet smile, holding up her hand to cut off the oncoming retort. "Before you say anything, I know you care about me mom, but I care about sis. We both know she won't be happy in second place, not when Rei will need to carry so much on her shoulders. Minako will want to be by her side, and there isn't any better way for her to do that besides take up the title of Venus and become the new Sailor Senshi of our planet."

"Do you miss Azar?" The question was pressing, wondering if her eldest child could even remember the woman.

"You know what I miss? The smile you used to have. I can remember a time when you used to laugh, I mean really laugh. You used to be a woman full of light and hope, it's still there don't get me wrong, but it used to be like Minako. I miss that in you. Azar…I didn't know her well enough to miss her after all of these years, but I know her passing hurt you a lot. I wish I could have better known the woman you often speak fondly of…does that make sense?" Kuri asked back.

"Yes." The Queen nodded. "It makes a lot of sense." She stood, making her way through the door before stopping. "Do me a favor and find your brother, make sure he's not gallivanting around with that poor maid again. I need to find Minako and Rei; she will need a crash course in fine china if she ever hopes to survive dinner."

It took the woman quite a long time to find her daughter and Rei. She had almost given up until she had thought to try the stables. The pasture was cleared of the horses often used for transport, in the field haystacks held paper targets. Rei was training. With her bow and arrows she aimed and hit with deadly accuracy as a few of the castle guards learned what it was like to engage Rei in combat.

She never aimed for them, but she always dodged and countered their attacks, earning little more than scratches where most would have sustained large gashes from the swords they were using. Rei was holding back a large amount of her power, more focused on hitting the paper than the guards that had aggravated her earlier. The sight was astounding as she weaved her way through the masses, a true warrior at heart. Those she did take down were spared bodily harm, while others ran in fear of her attacks.

Those watching on the sidelines could only stare in awe of the sure concentration found in those lavender eyes. It was an intensity that the Queen had seen once before. The only difference was the youthful innocence. The arrows were slightly slow, but always on the mark. The swipes she took with her sword were held back, taking mercy on those around her, and her vengeance was barely there.

Hidden under a stoic mask, Rei was not to be underestimated, nor was she to be feared. Some of the guards using arrows weren't well versed, and Minako, being the young woman she was, couldn't care less as she also engaged in battle practice. It wasn't until a stray one was headed for Minako that Rei jumped in the line of fire, taking the arrow in the arm.

"Rei are you alright?" Minako asked frantically as she looked at the arrow and the person it had embedded itself in.  
"Relax, this is why we were using training arrows to begin with." Rei laughed as she pulled out the arrow with little worry. "It can't go in deep."  
"It doesn't mean it's not dangerous!" Minako shot back. "You need to be more careful!"  
"As do you." Rei smiled softly. "It's only a flesh wound, now don't worry." She assured.

As the scene before the Queen continued she watched as her daughter dragged Rei to the infirmary. Only when she was out of earshot did she let out the breath she was holding. "You are a weak woman Rei. That's why. You are weak for my daughter, just as your mother was for me." A stray tear fell down her cheek, it was not the first time the Queen wore her emotions on her sleeve, and it would not be the last.

TBC~~~~

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	13. Chapter 13

A/N: This next chapter goes back into modern day as Rei muses about a few things. Rei point of view. I know it is short. Life has gotten in the way of writing recently, but i simply had to post a chapter. The next one i post on here will be longer, I promise.

I do not own Sailor Moon.

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Chapter: 12: Barely Reachable Memories

I sit at the shrine, the wind wafting through my hair and I sometimes have to think. It's never anything important, at least not for most. Grandpa says I get a far away gaze. As if I'm worried or something, I don't know. I never think I get worried. Pensive, I get pensive more than anything. Can he blame me? Should I blame myself? Sometimes I don't know. I care about my friends, but sometimes I look into the eyes of a few of them and I wonder. What do they know, what do they remember?

I don't remember a thing…our past remains something of a mystery…of that much I am sure.

Ami's eyes are that of calculation. Her memories likely highly analytical, I doubt she thinks them more than just dream, or things she no longer could control. If she becomes worried by the past, she doesn't show it, yet, we all have at least a little fear…right? She's the brains behind the brawn, the logic behind the chaos. She hast to be the one to keep us calm, to direct us in tactical advancement and keep our heads out of the clouds. I only wonder, can she do that for herself too? If not, who will do it for her? Even if she has her own way to do things, one that's cool and reserved, I wonder what would happen if you took that away. Would she still be the same? I'm not entirely sure.

When one thinks about things like she does, it would be easy to state that we are fate. Not only are we bound by it, we are the fate in and of itself. Some people could dispute it. However, if you think about things, really muse about it…you'd see that past follows us into present, in more ways than one. I may not know exactly why, but, Ami seems too. I wish she would tell me why she looks the way she does, but, her lips remain forever sealed it seems.

Usagi's eyes are love and care, yet, hold hidden depth just underneath the surface. They are the type that drowns in sorrow…sparkles in the faintest of light. She masks her wisdom with idiocy. Not to say she can't have lazy tendencies. She can, and acts on those predispositions often. Saying she's hungry, eating nothing but junk food, crying like a big baby…that's Usagi.

I'm sure she remembers a lot. She gives me this look some times. A look of knowing something, what that happens to be…well, I don't know. She's funny like that. Looking as if she feels remorse or fear for me. A tender gaze, one that yearns for something she knows she cannot offer. She smiles so brightly she blinds us all with her magnificence. No one would ever be able to compare. All of us, we are easily drawn too her natural ability. That is our princess and our future queen. It is Usagi.

If one would act like her, it would be on a whim. Impulsive, with little care towards the consequence of action. She does what is right no matter the cost. We, as her Senshi have also acted on such inclination. Often they have cost us dearly. Still, if Usagi can do it, so can us as a team, and I, as a person.

Then you have Makoto. Her eyes have qualities that shock you into a cold depth of either fear or encouragement. She is power in excellent forum. I think she remembers very little, like myself, or nothing at all. The reasons behind that are rather simple really. Her life, as it is now, taunts her. It pulls at her heart so deeply, that I don't necessarily think that she would, in all reality, remember the past that was so far from today. Her burdens are beyond only skin deep, affecting her very soul. Her past, even in this short life, has more blemishes then even the Dark Moon could possibly have.

The worst thing about these issues is the fact that most, if not all of them, Makoto had been unable to stop. Like me, she's lost a parent. Unlike me, she's had to basically raise herself. Like Minako, she has lost many loves. Unlike Minako, her pain seems to affect her in a deeper way. Like Ami, she is very fragile. Unlike Ami, who is weak physically, Makoto is very weak emotionally for a verity of reasons. Like Usagi, She can show an unwavering amount of love and devotion. Unlike Usagi, if you cause her malice, she is likely to never forgive or trust you fully ever again.

Makoto holds far too much complexity. She is too conflicted, and thus, I doubt she would ever remember the full extent of our past, if it ever comes back to her at all.

Then you have Minako, eyes of truth, of burden, and clarity. She was a leader of combat in her past life. At least she is now, so I would assume it to be the same as back then. She knows. Perhaps, like Ami she knows too much. She's like Usagi. She gives me a look. One I can't say I openly accept as much as I shy away from it. Her look, it's that of intensity. I can't help but feel powerless when she gives me that look. It's a loving gaze masked but hurt and restraint. I can't help but wonder why. Then again, I want my own memories. Not those of others.

I want to know…the fire refuses to tell me.

When I sleep, that's when I feel it. The rush of heat. The running freely that I did through red sands. I had a sword at my hip, a bow and arrow readily available. I was a fighter skilled in combat for my people. I smell faintly the blood of those I had slain, I had smiled in contentment at victory back then. When a comrade fell, I smelt that of sadness, bitter tears mingled with that of the metal smelling crimson liquid. In that, a have cried in sorrow, woken up, and didn't even know it.

I felt love for Minako. I know that. I think I may have even shared a bed with her. Not as friends or a comrade during battle…No, I think deep down my heart tells me, my heart knows, I had given her the virgin barrier. The one thing I should have given to a man, I gifted to her, as she did too me. I wake up sometimes in a sweat, I have not had sex, nor do I touch myself, and yet…it feels real. As if I had, as if I know.

I have had dreams that violate my very being. Sins I shouldn't have and needs I've yet to fulfill.

I find it hard not to feel lust in Minako's vicinity. I can just imagine the soft feel of her skin. How I wonder what it would be like to kiss her lips. To feel her pressing into me, as we embrace in a shadowed form. A fragmented memory…I want that now too. Perhaps, if I went to her, if I told her of these things…she would possibly care for me. It is in my dearest hopes that she would, yet, fear remains.

My weakness. I do love Minako with my entire being. I know she is my love, but, beyond that…my heart holds back. I only hope she will not reject me. That she will not cast me aside. However, fear cannot entrap me forever. My lesser self, my carnal desires…they can only be suppressed for so long…I feel awakening…I feel a pull…and I know, that deep within me I will not be freed from this mental prison unless I take the woman I love and show her my feelings.

Yet, as I say that, as I wish that, I know my eyes change too. They change into who I once was. The person of my dreams was a powerful woman with an even more prevailing desire…that was who I was. Every time I wake from my sleep, I've grown accustom to seeing my eyes. Even if they are puffy from tears, or hazy from a dream I dare not think about while I sit awake, they remain the same. They are darker in a way, much more authoritative and far more commanding. I fear my eyes because they state one thing. One thing I ought never to think.

Minako is mine…I am her protector. I will kill all who stand in her way on the battle front. I will place my life before hers, and the only one to possibly come before that is Usagi. Merely because Usagi is a princess. Beyond that Minako is my woman. The one a care for, the one I love. She is mine and mine alone. That is how I feel when I first wake up. That thought, it scares me. I fear my powers because I know they slowly will awaken, and, when they do, I will be unable to hold back.

Everyone else has eyes I can understand…but…I can't understand my eyes. I woke up with that look again today, and today I repent once again for being such a tainted figure. I say I'm sorry for everything, and I go cleanse myself of my impurities to the best of my abilities. Still, I sit here under the tree now, wondering why I have been given this burden. I'm such a weak human.

Minako is coming up the steps; she has her intense look again. Usagi is trailing behind; her eyes are those sad eyes, giving me a look of pity, love and care. When Minako goes off unseen for a moment our princess hugs me. Her voice is soft, her words full of care. "It'll be alright." She whispers in my ear. I know I am crying now.

I cannot grasp onto my seemingly unattainable memories, and that is why I am afraid. I fear my eyes will eventually consume me and I will be a person I see shrouded in a dark and tainted past of long ago. If only Minako would hold me this way…perhaps then I wouldn't be afraid…who knows, she may even be able to make me whole.

Minako…I wish I could understand our eyes.

TBC~~~~

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	14. Chapter 14

A/N: we now go back to the past. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Please read and review.

"Spoken"  
_'Thoughts'_

I do not own Sailor Moon.

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Chapter 13: Mine

The night life on Venus was nothing short of a sea of lights. Dancing and drinking filled the streets, parties lasted all night long. The planet of love and romance lived up too its name, and Rei found herself looking out onto the city with a sense of awe. She wasn't sure whether to be afraid, or to be utterly speechless at the fact that the people seemed to embrace the night as a time not for sleep, but instead, for enjoying the company of others.

Rei's eyes scanned the city. The people nearest the castle were obviously that of the rich. The people with the money to spend, and consequently, the time to waste. The further out Rei looked, she saw that the lights and people dimmed, only a few small clusters of people surrounded bonfires. That was the outskirts, the forbidden land that Minako was not allowed to venture into. Her kind…that of royalty…they never belonged in such a place.

"Minako…" Rei's upward inflection left a question in the air. One she would not voice, choosing instead to ask a more common one. "Do you think those people down there know what's beyond the big city?" Donned in her normal Martian clothing, Rei felt more at peace, but, she was also frowned upon. "Do they ever see the small flames of the outskirts?"

"They don't usually care." Minako sighed, placing down her hair brush and looking out the window. "The noble men and women of Venus often have the amount of clout one would expect of snobs." Her voice became almost prudish as she mocked them. "After all, who would care about the cheep beer and the simple bread when one can sample finest wine and the best of crumpets."

"That's not a very flattering statement." Rei nodded, knowing full well the intent behind the thoughts. "For me, I would be most at home with the cheep beer and moldy old bread. I'd rather have that, than live up here my entire life." Turning from the window Rei sat on the bed she had shared with Minako, the wound in her arm. "Even as the warrior I was raised to be, this place…it shouldn't subsist. Not like this."

"I know that." Blond tresses flowed down Minako's back, her nightgown that of silk. The excellent cloth presented her beautiful body in such a way that made her look regal. A real princess that wouldn't want for anything. Yet, for as wonderful as the blond looked she also seemed cheerless. Her gaze was towards the darkness, the final bonfires finally burning out for the night. Her dainty hand rested on the glass window, as if to want to reach out and feel the warmth. She wanted to really know it had been there, seeing far different from believing.

"Why aren't you like them?" Rei could see the wish in blue eyes. The deep aspiration muddled by the intensity of thoughts that would never pan out. Minako knew her place, and she did as she was told. Still, her gem, her stone of power, was as tainted as her people. Looks easily became deceiving. Rei went too Minako's jewelry box, fishing underneath a compartment to grasp the contaminated stone of the poor. "Why do you keep this when others of your stature don't?"

"I have no other choice." Minako took Rei's hand in hers, looking at the stone. "I am royalty here, a person of vocal power. Those of Venus rarely fight unless a war demands we take charge. I will be a leader of combat. The armies of Venus are not only that of noble birth, in fact, we draft more than any other planet because of our principles. Many would never fight and as a result, it's the people with no other option that get pulled into combat first."

'_They will fall, and no one would care, no one would remember. As a future queen I feel I must.'_ A voice like Minako's found purchase in the air. Only Rei heard it, but, that was due to the distress Minako was in. The Martian in Rei picked up the unspoken words with ease. She did not state that Minako was displaying her thoughts because the blond probably already knew.

Instead, Rei played along, acting dumb to a degree. "Unlike my planet, filled with willing fighters…you'd have none beside those drafted…is that it?" Rei wasn't one who understood peace. She understood the ideal of no killing, but, on her planet no one ever took rest. Not a soul could sit idly by, no, not while the others worked. In times of combat they stood as a unity, a force of power both mutual and proud. She was confused, but not for the reasons stated.

"Don't forget, we do have a royal guard and an army that do contain future heirs. This issue is that these men are no more ready for combat than Mars is ready for inner city life. My people do not understand real war, famine, or basic survival…not like you do anyway. In the event of such, we do need the draft." Minako took the little gem in Rei's hand and placed it back into the box.

'_Those that we draft can be small boys who are barely men. On mars, you learn how to fight, but in a draft we will hand a person a weapon and hope they can live. It is different Rei, very barbaric. What worries me most, is that the nobles see the poor as pawns. Even in daily life they suffer. I want to know why, but, even I am refused these things." _The voice rang out again and Rei nodded. Minako was likely afraid to speak these things aloud, the emotions behind her thoughts were enough to make them tangible for Rei's ears.

Rei looked on with interest. A true curiosity gave her reason to have concern. She was a warrior and the admission of the girl before her pulled sentiment that Rei couldn't rein. It wasn't as if Rei was going to become uncontrollable. Rather, she took pity on the weak planet. Listening on, Rei caught every worry Minako was inflecting, jetting them out from her inner mind from in between her spoken words. In return, Rei bristled on the emotions that she knew Minako could sense.

'_That won't happen. Like hell, would I let innocent people become slaughtered. I'd rather shove an arrow in my own head, then to agree to mindless war. Surely even you know that. Mars is the combat planet. We will act as mercenaries for others should the need arise. We would protect your planet…I would protect you.'_ Rei thought defiantly. Minako could see the stiffness in Rei's body, but instead she felt emotions Rei rarely allowed others to know about. Minako felt the remorse, regret, care, and protection circling in the air. Those were things Martians didn't just hand out willingly, not for other planets anyway. Even if the emotions weren't in Rei's face, they were tangible in the atmosphere around them. Minako couldn't read minds, but she got the general idea. Rei didn't like what she was hearing, urging a continued explanation.

Minako spoke aloud, choosing a default answer she had been raised to use. "The possibility of survival is lower than the forces of Mars, or in other regards Jupiter. Venus is, for all intents and purposes, a peaceful planet filled with rich businessmen and diplomats. We would never seek such destruction, but that doesn't mean we won't defend ourselves." Her explanation left much too be desired, leaving Rei disheartened by the news. Then Rei heard it again, the words between the lines Minako dare not speak aloud. _'I know I am not good at explaining, but I still don't know much at all. This will attract attention if we continue this way.'_

"And you choose to wear that gem as a symbol of what most care not to understand?" Rei tried again vocally. She knew Minako was right. Grasping at straws Rei didn't have, her view of Venus were muddled by all who felt her emotions. Rei constantly felt ill and even now, she felt lost. This world, it was something she didn't understand. Not in the slightest. "You care for the underdog. There is nothing wrong with a political figure wishing to help all of whom they rule."

"That is where you are very wrong." Minako sighed, pulling Rei over to the bed, the city lights still brightly casting a glow on the world around them. "Just as you choose not to help those in the cities for neglecting their values, I cannot simply walk past what is still lit. Those people outside the lit areas are not blue blooded. They are not of noble birth or affiliation. They aren't anything more than peasants, thieves, and those unable to ever have a standing in our society. Because they do not further our standing, are seen only as a hindrance, I can do very little about them right now. All I can do is hold that in my hand. That gem…"

"Again, I see very little wrong with that." Rei smiled, pulling Minako into her arms. "You know what you want, and one day, you'll have that. You'll have a chance to make things right. For now we just need to deal with what we have and that's not a lot compared to most. We don't have the freedom to be so simple minded. Not right now anyway. It doesn't mean we don't care, it just means we can't make a move."

"What if I don't want to wait? What if I don't want to be at the mercy of those around me?" Minako asked as she cuddled deeper with Rei's hold. "What if I don't want to marry a general of Mamoru? What do I do then?" The blond sighed, Rei still smelt like ash and sand when she wore her Martian clothing. "What if I want to see a bonfire… to enjoy that… then what would I do? How could I win that?"

"Out in that world, it is a wonderful place I bet." Rei spoke softly. "Jupiter had bonfires every night along with singing and dancing. Pluto was filled with people who could predict the future, very smart, with advisers…a place of strict discipline. Then there are places like here…and Earth. Minako, there would be place even you, as a noble, would feel what you want to feel. I just don't know where that is."

"If you knew…would you take me?" Eyes of blue found that of lavender. The eyes were of hopes, things she couldn't reach out and find on her own. "Would you show me that place? Even if it wasn't here?"

"No." Rei sighed in deject. "Our place is here Minako. It is at the throne with men at our side, protecting Usagi. That is our calling. That is our world and our place. We can look out and see things we may want, but, we will never have them…we will never be normal women free to do as we wish. We have a preordained path. We must walk the road unflinchingly."

"Even if I don't want that road?" Minako's voice wavered. Clearly, she was feeling more than just upset about her standing and Rei once again sighed, knowing what the blond was thinking. '_What has this ever offered me? A cadge? Kept from making my own choices? Why would I want that?'_

"I can't answer that." Rei began speaking more about the thoughts she had heard instead of the verbal words. "I know the flaws of my planet, and, I aim to amend the issues we have with the best of my ability. I know I won't be perfect, but no real leader is." Rei answered searching within the depth of her very heart, looking for only the best words. "You would do the same if you knew that others wouldn't suffer. This life, we are trapped more than our people would ever know, but it is our task, it is our job."

"I don't want that." The blond sighed. "I really don't."  
"Then what do you want Minako?" Rei's voice was getting lazy, the depth of night sinking in she was becoming drained.  
"I don't know that either." The blond shook her head slightly confused and feeling as if she was failing. She didn't know why, just that she was.  
"Don't lie to me." Rei's voice commanded, and Minako followed, her eyes falling on protective lavender. "What do you want?" Rei was in charge.

Minako knew that look. It was fully Martian, entirely possessive, and something seen only among those with the strongest resolve. If it was the look of supremacy or the worried voice, the blond couldn't be sure. She felt something. It wasn't something defined by a word, nor was it something easily explained. All she knew was that it was there. A respect forged deeper into something Minako had only amused about.

She felt in safe Rei's embrace, and she wanted to continue feeling that security. "Whatever it is you do to make me feel safe and happy. That's what I want."

Lavender eyes hardened in understanding. A new bridge crossed only as a game was about to be cemented into a reality. A road Rei had vowed never to take became conflicted with her morals. This girl before her, she needed to be protected. She needed strong arms to hold her. Who had done that for this woman? No one had come close, no one had tried. The request was a plea; one Rei wouldn't normally answer too. Had the situation been different, had Rei had a clear head, perhaps she would have not made such a hasty choice.

She took Minako into her arms, lying down so that she could see beyond the blond tresses. In the event of danger, Rei would both see it coming, and be a shield. This was a situation among Martian lovers. Something more feral than any other planetary alignment, it made them a force to reckon with. Minako was walking on that ground, pleading with one who would grant her such a protection. Sensing the safety of the situation, Rei moved her hand just under Minako's chin, lavender eyes boring deep into blue.

Sensing no hesitation, Rei placed her lips slowly too Minako's, kissing the blond gently, giving her time to react negatively if the girl in her arms had wanted. After a moment, Rei nibbled her way across the lower lip of the supple woman in front of her. The gentleness, slowly turning into a passionate embrace, as hands wandering protectively and respectfully across Minako's back and sides were encouraged. Forcing an entrance that Minako did not deny, Rei claimed the mouth of the woman before her fully.

Rei, she was the prevailing one. Minako was the submissive woman that any lover would be for a Martian. In this they found their comfort. She allowed Minako's hands to trace fabric and skin, any other mortal would have been wounded by the mere thought of touching. Instead of only tolerating it, Rei endorsed the feeling, pushing her body towards the whims of Minako's wandering hands, the blond doing the same for Rei. It was raw and ill planned. Someplace within Rei, she knew her pride stated that she not act in such haste.

A Martian had laws and values that came before all else. Though possessive, Martians with honor were never forceful. Even if you were dominant, you became obediently willing for the one you loved. You protected them with fierceness unmatched; they gave you their true loyalty. For Rei, those rules and more implanted themselves within the haze of her mind. She could not continue to act this way. Not as the Martian she was.

Passion in its earliest stage, devotion starting to develop, Rei allowed one thought to cross her mind. One that would consume her entire being, making her become dependent on the blond should time allow for such a thing. _'Mine'_ Rei thought as she broke the kiss softly, ending with a few chaste presses to calm the feverish session._ 'Mine. She needs protection. She's mine to protect. no one else will. I must.'_ Her voice was thick with an emotion Rei could not describe.

Minako looked on in a questioning gaze. It was easy to forget that Rei had the blood of her mother within her veins. Her mother was of purely Venus bloodline. Rei, because of this, could act impulsively if she didn't maintain her composure. The Martian blood of her father in her demanded she take control. The blood of her mother, wishes she would act on her feelings and emotions. The answer became clear what Rei would decide when she spoke as the warrior she was.

Not fully lust, not exactly love, and too unsure to be controlling, her words gave power behind her previous action. "I shall protect and care for you. It's my responsibility, it is my right, and it is mine alone."

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TBC~~~  
Please leave a review. :D


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: I hope you enjoy this next chapter. It is complex that is why it is short. I don't want to confuse anyone. On top of that, I happen to be in charge of the two small children who fancy "helping." So, I'd rather keep this as far away from their little hands as possible.

I do not own Sailor Moon

"Spoken."  
_'Thoughts'_

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Chapter 14: The Truth about Bloodlines.

"And you feel as if this new development will cast us into ruin?" The Queen over the galaxy, and subsequently the White Moon, sighed as she listened to Setsuna's report. "The gates showed you this and you feel it must be stopped. Is that it?" It was easy to forget that Setsuna was merely an apprentice despite her age and had much to learn. Deifying fate was one of those things she should never do.

"No." Setsuna sighed; although it was a hope that something could be done. "I suspect that Rei succumbed to the emotions that most of her planet doesn't fall back on. Her mother Azar was a pure blood after all."

"That may be true." The Queen nodded. "However, be that as it may, most planetary bloodline isn't pure anymore. With the birth of Rei, her bloodline is also that of an impurity now." She stood up, walking gracefully towards the bookshelf she had behind her throne. She picked up an only leather bound book, one of great importance within her heart. The photos were old, but, the memories were still vivid. "The Cytherean bloodline is diminishing."

Setsuna took that thought in with a careful level of detail. It was true that each planet had become more accepting of others, the bloodlines now tainted and very few of purity remained. Bloodline and allegiance followed a code. Depending of the blood a person carried, it would denote the attributes they held. Some bloodlines were stronger, or more sought out than others. The Cytherean bloodline was that of Aphrodite, it was the purest of all the Venus bloodline, and also, as a result, the strongest.

As people produced offspring, bloodlines would weaken and fizzle out, the Cytherean, the base of all Venus traced bloodlines, would thin out into nothing. Every planet would face that problem eventually; if it was even really an issue at all remained to be seen. Most didn't even care about the origin of the bloodline. Only a few places held such pride. If one was born of two fully blooded parents of Venus, it was called a pure Cytherean birth. If you had a mixed bloodline, born within the borders of the planet, you were named a citizen of Venus. Simply put, a Venusian, or sometimes called, a Venerean.

"Azar was of a Cytherean birth." Setsuna acknowledged. "Rei attributes may be Martian, but, her Mother's blood has a strong hold on her. She is powerful, and with her training Rei could almost become unstoppable." The power Rei held from her father's Martian blood was very influential. However, because Rei was never taught to act on impulsion like those of Venus, the very strong bloodline of a barely tainted Cytherean could put Rei in danger. She wasn't a small child anymore, and as a woman, her dreams and desires could possibly lead down the road of temptation.

"Let's not forget. Rei's father, Jed is also of pure blood." The Queen sighed; each planet had a way of classifying their people into birthrights. Some, like Venus, were highly advanced due to rank and protocol. "Rei has been gifted with two very strong lines of definition." Others, contrasting Venus used more ancient means.

The planet of Mars sat among the most simplistic when defining rank.

Instead of bloodline classifying their people, they used the umbrella term of Martian. In its place, the skill of the individual denoted their rank, and thus, the gem signified their skill and worth. You could redeem yourself, or fall from greatness because of your own personal choices. They did not affect the rest of your family, only each individual person.

For Venus, it was the exact opposite. Your bloodline and parents denoted your gem. Your gem denoted your rank, and in the event of being classed unworthy, you were given a tainted gem in reply. Since diamonds came in a verity of colors and types, it was easy for them to simply hand you a gem at birth. Venus was a planet based on emotion, and, sometimes those emotions were shallow and judgmental.

"Rei is the first child of mixed deities from both parents. Because both sides are strong they seem to cancel each other out. Rei, being raised by her father, knows how to draw her power and use it in manners known of Martian education. Normally, there is a stronger bloodline. One being more dominant, but since both Azar, and Jed were pure blooded, there is a high possibility Rei could see ramifications from both bloodlines." Setsuna understood well the difficult times one would face if they owned a bloodline that was very powerful.

"Still, it is unwise for us to act in haste." The Queen gave a sad smile. "Fate will do as it pleases Setsuna, do not forget that. I cannot change it, nor will you be able too." The Queen embraced the Mage before her who had clearly been worried by the visions she had seen. "Still, fate always leaves a window, and, while I may not know your true reasons for arriving here I can assure you, nothing is to fear."

Back on Venus, the sun was rising and a new day was just beginning. Rei was still in bed; she felt emotionally drained and had no desire to move. The royalty and noblemen were annoying, and Minako was still in her arms, soft and inviting. Her eyes shot to the door, quickly her mind raced to assess the situation. She was the protector of Minako. She was the one who had to be sure the area was harmless. Venus was unsafe for Rei, and thus, by pure accusation, Rei found it unsafe for the woman in her arms.

She sneered at the door, one lavender eyes keeping close watch. If she had been back at home, she would have darted out the door, attacking the intrusion of space. However, here that was an unwise plan. It could have just been the Queen, or Minako's sibling. Those people were of no threat and welcome at any time. The trust offered for others was little to none.

As if Minako could sense Rei's distress, which was not out of the realm of possibility for Minako to do, she sighed, nuzzling into Rei. "It's ok…just the cleaning lady. Not a threat…" She soothed while half asleep. Her arms wrapped around the aggressive girl tightly, as if to affirm she didn't want Rei moving around.

"If she comes in here…" Rei's voice was a low warning, a heated whisper that could have been a growl if it had been any lower. Most would have been intimidated by the words. Fearful of what a Martian would do when aggravated to the degree that Rei was currently. Minako wasn't fazed, nor did she really care. She knew well of Martians, but more so than that, she knew well of Rei. "She better not come near me."

"Rei." Minako's voice of warning broke through the aggressiveness. Instead, the Martian contented herself with glaring at the door, but made no more protests, aiming her annoyance at the fact that she had been disturbed rather than the maid herself. "Now stay put." An order now…Rei's brow furrowed confused. She wouldn't normally take an order from someone like Minako, and yet, she felt compelled to do so, feeling as it was in Minako's best interest to listen.

'_Must be because she'll be the combat leader.'_ Rei resigned herself, knowing those facts to be truth. Closing her eyes, allowing more rest, Minako's light scent and warmth seemed to calm Rei's entire being. _'Mine.'_ That one thought came back again but instead of possessive like last night; the thought was happy and contented. It was as if she was a small child who had been cuddling into her favorite security blanket.

Minako smiled as Rei allowed herself to rest. This was the power behind Martian bloodline. If their family was happy and contented, if no hazard was present, a Martian was also happy and contented. If danger arose, that Martian would become angry and Rei was no acceptation. If negative emotions and feelings came close to Martians or their families it would warrant an attack, but, with Minako at ease, there wasn't any real reason for Rei to get aggressive, and, as a result, her possessive streak was quelled and she was calm.

"My Minako…" Rei whispered contented without noticing it.  
"Yes, I am." The blond whispered back, even though she knew the girl of raven tresses wasn't awakening enough to realize.

It was then that Minako thought about it. How much she liked being in this embrace with this woman. It was a welcoming thought, and one she would happily amuse. She was sure that Rei wasn't thinking along the lines of romance, however, Rei's emotions were. Minako saw that all too clearly when Rei broke the kiss, trying to regain composure late last night. _'My Rei too.' _The blond thought jetting it into Rei's being in the process.

"Your Rei." The soft reply was satisfied with the mental admission. "Your protector."

TBC~~~

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Like I said, short chapter, but I tried to keep it that way since it starts out somewhat confusing.


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: Here is the next chapter. Another short one, but, since I have studies to worry about, it is far easier for me to update smaller chapters than it is to do longer ones. It may seem rushed, but trust me, for what I have planned, this fiction isn't even at the halfway mark yet…

"Spoken"  
_'Thoughts'_

I do not own Sailor Moon.

* * *

Chapter 14: Word From The Moon.

"Do you challenge the word of a Martian? It's just the poor lands." Rei growled out, highly aggravated that she was having a verbal warfare. Her pride had been placed on stake. "I would take care of her. I have spoken as much."

"I do not question your abilities." The Queen sighed. Rei was acting very difficult. "I just don't see this being a very good idea. Minako has often wanted to venture out into those parts. It isn't safe. In fact, I really don't want you in the area either. It just wouldn't do."

"What's out there that could be so dangerous?" Rei was truly interested now. Minako's mother wasn't stuck up by any means. Unlike most others of high standing, she wasn't judgmental, and had raised Minako to believe in herself and of others. "Are there snakes, thieves, famine, and illness?"

"No, Rei, the danger for her does not lie within that." The Queen shook her head. Standing, her long gown graced the floor as she walked carefully away from her throne and stepping to face the younger woman before her. "The dangers aren't seen, rather, they are unseen." The Queen wasn't daft; she could feel something within Rei, something deep. She couldn't place the emotion because it didn't have a true foundation. Mostly likely, it was an unknown feeling for Rei, and thus, hard for the Queen to pinpoint.

"I'm from Mars. I know all about unseen dangers. If anything, I would declare the castle unsafe more so than the outside. The inner city is also highly unsafe, but the outskirts I've yet to see. I can't report that area yet." Rei was raised to know safety above all else. She wasn't some lowly scout unable to do her job. She was the princess of the battle grounds. "I know you have a greater fear for Minako than what's out there. Nothing could be so strong as to put her at risk, especially not while I'm around. So, are you going to tell me, or will you simply fear the worst?"

"Minako is her own worst danger." The Queen wasn't sure how to properly explain Minako's upbringing. For Rei, it would look weak. There would be no doubts. "You see, Minako has great aspirations for all. While that isn't a bad thing, Minako is also young and naive in many ways. Outside the city there are things that my daughter simply wouldn't understand."

"Such as?" No one would dare speak ill of Minako, Rei would never allow it. "Explain what has you so worried."  
"You." The simplistic reply from the eldest daughter caught Rei off guard. "You are the naivety Princess of Mars."  
"Kuri now isn't the time." The Queen spoke softly hoping it would be enough.  
"The time is now, in more ways than one." Kuri spoke with knowledge unmatched. Then again, it wasn't surprising. "The future holds foreboding."  
"You ok over there?" Rei didn't know Kuri well, but she knew enough to know the girl always took matters seriously. "What's wrong with the future?"  
"Nothing yet…" Kuri answered softly. "Minako received a call though, from Usagi."

The Queen of Venus looked on at Rei. The princess of lavender eyes had a look that was familiar in many ways. "Rei…your mother, she and I were much like you and Minako of today." The Queen slowly enveloped Rei into a hug. "Each planet, we do what we do so that we can protect you. I know Minako has a conflict between what she wants and what she feels she needs to do. You are her naivety because she could have had freedom from this castle, had your mother and I not failed our planets. I'm sorry for that. I really am."

The Queen released Rei; unable to keep composure and swiftly left the room.

Kuri stayed behind, noticing the confusion on Rei's face. "Don't blame her." The sound was soft, caring but also veiled and protected. "My mother, she's just not used to you acting so much like Queen Azar. That's all." Kuri walked up the steps that the throne stood and sat down. "You know, I may be the one to blame, but, I can help but feel like it was the right thing to do."

"When will we ever know the right thing to do." Rei it was a statement. One she voiced knowing that life was a whim at best. No one could ever truly have the answers. Even those of Pluto made mistakes. "Minako doesn't blame you for turning down the throne. I don't either, you were at least lucky you had the choice."

"No, that's why I turned it down." Kuri shook her head. She had been preparing for the day that she could have ruled Venus. Her entire life had been devoted into training for strictly that occasion. She even was putting off marriage, being sure that Minako would wed first. Kuri had given up many things for her sister, and the throne was one of them. "Don't you see? Martian laws state you need to birth a child for the throne. Minako could never give you that. If I took the throne, you'd be by my side when Senshi gathered. This was the only way you two would be able to stay by each others side. Minako knows that, but it doesn't make it easier."

"What we do is never easy Kuri." Rei wanted to yell, but what would be the point. What would she gain be being so angry over things she couldn't control? The answer was absolutely nothing. "Father always speaks with deep pride for our people, pride I learned to love as well…but what about my mother. Did she love our people too? Or would she rather have stayed here? There are so many things I don't know."

"I don't know much about her." Kuri nodded. "I was still a kid, and I had other interests than some other Queen. However, I know Queen Azar was not just an average person of our people. She was a Cytherean, a pure blooded woman of Venus. As such, she acted on her feelings and emotions. That caused her to do very rash things, of these things was to date your father, another was to forge a love on the battlefield."

"Two different loves?" Rei never thought her mother to be a person who slept around. "Why would she cheat on my father?"  
"She didn't cheat on him you idiot. Things were complicated…" Kuri didn't know all of it, only whispers. "Just…My mom, she see's Azar in you."  
"I'm not my mother." Rei growled out. "I never even knew the woman, not well enough to be her."  
"Still, Minako wants to be by your side, how will you handle the day you must marry?" Cold, angered eyes questioned Rei.  
"I…don't know." Rei admitted, looking lost and confused. "I can't answer that."  
"Your father couldn't either." Kuri answered back. "Not at first anyway…he was a Martian, he didn't know much about love. You are the same in that. You are also like Azar in other ways."

Rei tried to absorb that reply as she heard Minako calling for her. "Rei, are you almost ready to go?" Minako stood in a dress that was modest for that of Venus, her hair hung loosely in the back, a matching bow keeping it together. "We are due on the Moon. Mamoru arrived a day early and Usagi has requested that we be there by tomorrow."

"I am ready." Rei smiled a sad, regretful smile. "Let's go, I'll help you pack." She answered as she grabbed her hand. They walked back towards Minako's room with a level of uncertainty. "Did she tell us how long we will be staying this time?"

"No, she didn't say." Minako answered. Once they got to the room, Minako pulled out a full length chest to pack. "Mamoru proposed formally last night, I guess he wanted to surprise her, she's so happy." Then Minako pulled back from her suitcase. "We will know who our betrothed will be as well when we go. At least that is what I assume."

"I already know it will be Jadeite for me." Rei's eyes gave no trace for uncertainty. "Father really liked him. He will make a proper king for Mars, even I know that much." As if trying to talk herself into believing her words, Rei continued. "He is strong, commanding, everything a good ruler for my planet should be. His children will be strong, he will be a good husband."

"Don't kid yourself." Minako whispered heatedly. "Don't you dare do it Rei, not now, and not ever." Minako turned back towards her packing. She couldn't bear to look Rei in the eyes right now. "We knew this would happen. It is our path. It's what we've worked so hard for. Even you said it; we have to be leaders for our planets."

"Yes, we do." Rei was resolved, but beyond that, she felt something else. Something deeper and inexplicable. "But then why do I feel like those words are full of lies." She pulled Minako away from the bed that her suitcase had been resting on. "You're mine." Lavender eyes bore into that of blue. They were full of uncertainty, fear and a deep sense of loyalty.

"To protect?" Minako wondered quietly, her voice nothing more than barely a breath of noise.  
"No…" Rei shook her head. She knew better than to be holding Minako in her arms like this, but that was what she wanted to do. "Just mine…"  
"Yours how?" This time Minako's voice found a level ground, strength found in Rei's obvious confusion. "Your friend? Your lover? What am I?"

Rei didn't know how to voice that. Yes, Minako was her friend. Yes, she cared deeply for Minako, but love, that was hard to say. It was something she shouldn't say. Not as who they were, not with the responsibilities they had to carry. Rei couldn't explain it; all she knew was that she felt the pull. An emotion she dearly wanted to express, with no real place to express it. In reality, Minako wasn't hers. "You are you…you are mine…" She whispered, holding Minako close. "To protect, yes, but more than protect. You are you, I follow you, and I look after you…care for you."

Minako felt something then. A teardrop on her shoulder proved Rei wasn't ready to go to the Moon. She didn't want to go, and despite all of talk of doing her job as a future queen, she had other wishes in life. Minako pulled back slightly, seeing the tears stream down from eyes of lavender insecurity. "Rei…"

Minako couldn't say what she wanted to say, it would only weaken Rei more, and she knew that. She wrapped her arms around Rei's neck, bringing the girl closer. "I can't say who's I'll be later, but for now, I am yours Rei." Minako brought the girl in for a bitter sweet kiss, the salty taste of tears making it all the more real.

When the kiss ended Rei's eyes hardened in contemplation, as if she had reservations on something. "If what I wanted…if it would…" She trailed off, unsure of how to explain her thoughts properly. "Don't make this so hard Minako…this is already hard enough." Rei was barely containing her confusion. She wanted more than this, more than her destiny. On the other hand, she knew what her planet needed, and these things couldn't be accomplished both ways.

"Then don't make it so damn hard on me…" The retort was laced with lust coupled by the severity of truth. Knowing what could never be had, along with what she never really wanted in the first place. "Don't tease me with things that will never be mine…" Minako pushed Rei away then, taking a deep heavy sigh to calm herself.

'_Minako…'_ Rei thought inwardly, being sure to mask her thoughts while trying to search for Minako's. Rei was so confused, so lost within what she knew was right, and what she knew she wanted. _'…you already have my heart….' _She wanted to go over and stop whatever it was that made Minako upset, however that was an unknown territory for Rei.

Mars and Venus were two totally different planets, and Rei wasn't sure what she had done wrong, all she knew was that she was to blame. _ 'What is it that will never be yours? What more can I give you? I just wish I knew.'_

TBC~~~~

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Please leave a review.

Also, I want to know, do you guys prefer shorter chapters with quick updates, or longer chapters with longer waits on the updates?


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: I keep chugging along at a nice pace whenever I have a spare few minutes, as a result, here is the next chapter. The next series of chapters will be broken down into Wings, this way we can see just what's inside the Moon's grand castle, and a little bit about the other occupants and respective love interests. New pairings and love triangles will start to pop up, so be ready.

Since I have noticed a few people getting confused, if you have a question, feel free to PM me. I'll be happy to reply when I can.

A website is also in the works, the link will be shown in the home page section of my profile. Right now, the website is in its infancy, but will be updated over time.

GAH! of corse my computer had to glitch... here is the RIGHT chapter!

I do not own Sailor Moon.

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Chapter 16: The Mars Wing.

The ride to the Moon was quiet. Minako didn't have the gull to speak with Rei, and the girl of raven tresses didn't know what to say. Even if she could have known, she didn't want to hurt Minako any more than she already had. With Rei forced to sit quietly, her own pride in the way of all else, she didn't understand why Minako seemed upset.

Protection, that's what Rei had promised and willingly gave. What she didn't understand, was the reason why Minako hadn't given loyalty back. Rei knew it was her fault, but, what she didn't know was the how's and why's. How did she hurt Minako? Why was Minako acting this way? Most importantly, would she be able to fix her mistake?

On the Moon, the castle was a flurry with guards running to and fro, quite obviously trying to keep the many princesses happy. Court would be held soon, and along with that also came the meetings that Rei detested. It drove her absolutely crazy to have to deal with the man known as Jadeite. Her own internal and personal tirade couldn't have come at a worse time as she and Minako were escorted into different wings of the castle.

Rei had her own space here, a place she could move into at any given time. It was quite large, and ironically enough, it was also the only place Rei felt comfortable within the entirety of the castle. The walls were lined with swords and other combative weaponry. Sharp and very heavy, they weren't only for show. Some of the larger ones belonged to her father, heirlooms she'd never wield. If, by mere chance, she birthed a son, perhaps the boy one day would.

The hall beyond the weapon brackets led down into a common sitting area, the floor thickly covered in sand much like her homeland. Three doors denoted her entire living space. One was a bathroom, simplistic as possible and very plain. A bedroom found a place at the second door. It was a small room covered in sand and two types of beds. One was a netted cot that hung between two large poles. The other was made of stuffed burlap that would be found if she slept on the sands back home. Her room was quant, containing no actual place to hold her clothing. Instead, it would be draped over another set of wooden poles.

The final door led off into the Mars wing of the palace. The community shrine, a smithy of Martian armaments, a small eatery, and the archery range could be found in this wing. A counsel room made solely for Martian royalty and diplomats found its own nook and, lastly the combat training barracks found residence for the common folk. Rei often trained there despite the fact that the royal families had a much larger and personal area towards the back of the castle.

Her father's throne sat high above everything with wooden arches. He rarely spent his time here. He spent even less time merely sitting around, so the chair was often empty. It was the last place you'd fine any true Martian let alone a ruler. She found that the other Martians inhabiting the castle were doing their intended jobs, or bettering themselves in combat, none of them acting lazy.

Then Rei saw him…

A man she wouldn't deal with if she had any other choice. With his short hair hanging just above his eyes, donned in a suit neatly pressed, it was all Rei could do not to go hide, or kick his pompous face in. Whatever came first was alright in her book. He seemed to be working on his abilities in swords. She sighed, seeing how poorly the metal blade was being treated. Surely he could do better. In his hands the sword was dangerous, but, it was also being misused, its true potential wasted by his inability.

Sighing, she felt the hilt of her own sword. Her father had reminded Rei over and over as a child that to be good in battle you had to know your weapon. This man didn't know his very well at all. Feeling pity on the poor misused blade, she walked over, grasping Jadeite from behind and in a swift motion flinging him into another training dummy. While he was still down, she began to speak. "Made of only the strongest of metals, forged with honor and loyalty, a hilt both sturdy and grand, contouring to fit even the most inexperienced hand, this blade was made for a mere boy. A father would make this for his child, but in no way could this be called the sword of a true man."

She allowed her finger to grace the blade lightly; swords of this nature should only cut when it had contacted skin properly. However, because of the nicks and bends in the blade, it had seen better days. Rei's finger and thumb started shedding crimson regret from the lack of care the sword had received over the years. She found the sheath, placing the poorly battered weapon away, attaching it at her side. "You should not wield a sword like that if you are to be the king of my people."

"Forgive me princess." Jadeite bowed in a charitable respect, he was one of the generals of Earth. Known for his ruthless demeanor and less than redeemable war history, he had been deemed a proper male for Rei. "I was merely trying my hand at using a sword native too your people, however I am unaware of what are the best kinds. Perhaps you would be inclined to show me one day."

"Don't forget your place." Rei barked. A woman teaching a grown man, what was she, an idiot? He was plenty old enough to know proper combat. On Earth he was powerful, but, among the Martians he was no more than a mere teenage boy who had lost his way. Even those of Mercury would have put up a better fight with that particular sword. "You are a man, soon to be the one I wed, it would not do for our people to see your pure incompetence…even the mere scum of our inner city know better than this."

Taking a sword off the wall it was much larger and heavier. Made for a strong man, such as Rei's father or other men of Mars it was clearly not a trinket like the other one had been. Rei would have difficulty wielding such a sword. In fact, by pure logic, she would never wield one so large. "This is the sword most Martian men carry. If you, a man of Earth who will soon wed me, think you would like have one of our weapons at your side be sure it is one that states just who it is you are." She took two other weapons off the shelf. "These daggers may be of better use for you."

"Are you daft? Those are swords woman…" The two blades alongside him were far too large to be daggers. They were too large, too thick, that had to be some sort of short sword. "No one could mistake that. They are clearly a sword class of some nature. I thought you to be trained better than that princess." His words were cocky and out placed.

This angered Rei, her mood hadn't been the best to begin with, but now she was right out angry. "Dare you defy me or question the teachings of my father?" Her words were low and primal, no man would talk too their wife that way, she would not stand for it either. Not from her future spouse, and most certainly not from a mere general of earth. "Those are daggers used by real men, more than I can state of you right now. Remember your place, I am a woman of Mars, you'll do well to respect that. Ever speak ill of what you don't understand again and I will not hesitate to show you how a real warrior fights."

She stomped off then, unable to keep her cool. She needed some stress relief and went off in search of the royal barracks to train. She normally wouldn't have left, but, she just couldn't stand that man. No matter how much she kept up the appearance, she loathed the idea of having such a dimwitted future husband. She stalked past Ami and Zoisite who just happen to have come from visiting Mamoru from his quarters, both women left mildly confused with why Rei had totally ignored them.

"What clawed its way up her butt and died?" Zoisite gawked slightly. Being around men often, she had hardened part of her vocal patters, she was unafraid to speak in ways that could come off as lewd. Looking back at the corridor Rei had come from, it was likely she had come from the Mars wing of the castle.

"I'm not exactly sure." Ami also looked on in puzzlement. "I'd likely assume it was Jadeite, however according to basic logic, Rei had spent her time with Minako recently…both could be a factor." Always over analytical at times like this, Ami often also failed to see the bigger picture on an emotional standpoint. She was a woman of logic and knew well of science, however romance left her confused more often than not.

"Well, that's a given hun." The tall woman chuckled lightly. "What I meant was, who did what to whom, and how did it happen." Running a slightly exasperated hand through her long hair she mentally ran through all of the things each person could have said to cause the emotional train wreck that was known as Rei currently. "All I know is, Jadeite better be careful if he has any intention of living...or procreating."

"Are you implying that he's incapable?" Ami asked with a slight blush, not thinking of all of the meaning behind the term, but rather, the most logical one.  
"Yes dear, but I don't mean he can't have children."Zoisite thought it really was sort of cute how innocent the Princess of Mercury could be.  
"Then how is he incapable? He seems a fine specimen of the male species and I-" Ami was cut off mid way when Zoisite hit herself in the forehead.  
"No, no, and more no. Let's just say he better be a good boy and keep his hands too himself." Although cute, Ami was also very tiring in cases like this.  
"Indeed…Rei would dislike his advances." The shorter girl of blue hair nodded. "I still don't see how it renders him incapable though."

The explanation battle would never be won, not in a case such as this. "My dear Ami, if I explained it, I would speak the matter aloud, and I assure you, after you would have heard it you would see it is not a matter of your particular interest." Masquerading as the man Zoisite often pretended to be, she offered her arm to the woman she would soon wed. "May I offer that we instead go off and spend the day in the company Nephrite and Makoto? I think they will be far more suitable for conversational interaction."

Taking the offered arm in a slightly shy fashion, Ami accepted the offered idea. She missed being around Makoto, and in all honesty Nephrite was a rather nice and endearing man, more than most women would ever hope to achieve in a suitor. Makoto tolerated him decently enough that his advances weren't thwarted, not that she welcomed them either. As the two of them headed down the halls and into the wing of Jupiter Ami sent a wary glance behind her, inwardly feeling sorry for Rei.

She had come out lucky being with Zoisite, the tall woman saw that Ami's every need and wish were met with as much accuracy as possible. Ami knew that Zoisite would take care of her as a romantic companion would. Ever calculating, Ami wasn't the sort of girl who was comfortable with emotions of love, however each and every planet viewed the ideal of such an emotion differently. For Ami, the ideal of love was logical, not emotional. A proper fit, a good match, that's what Zoisite was…

As little as some people, like Minako, sometimes claimed Ami had… in the depth of her heart Ami knew how lucky she had been. If Rei really were to marry Jadeite, she wouldn't ever be half as happy or lucky as Ami was…it as sad to think about, but it was true.

TBC~~~~

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There is your next chapter. I know I'm slowing down on the updating a tiny bit, but, that's because of the website and studying. I'll speed back up soon enough. If you'd like to check it out, please go to my profile and click on the homepage. That link will take you directly to the website.


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: Please enjoy this next chapter!

I do not own Sailor Moon.

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Chapter 17: The Wings of Venus and Earth.

Studded in only the finest of silks and most luxurious of furniture, this section of the castle was perhaps even more stunning than all of Venus could ever be. Minako sighed as one of the servants took her things to place them away. She ran her hand across the back of an armchair as she felt the gems studded in the back and even sewn into the fabric. The room brightly lit, housed this big common room with four rooms in different directions.

The Venusian wing, and subsequently Minako's quarters, came equipped with its own servant. Thus, one of the rooms was a storage unit and a place for her live in attendant to sleep. She had her own bedroom of course, lavished and beautiful, it was even more wonderful than her own bedroom back at home. Rolling her eyes, ignoring her room, she went into the servant's quarters.

The kitchen was small, but enough for them too cook. Often, if Minako got hungry, her attendant would cook for her in this humbled kitchen. Funny enough, it was food she favored. It was cheep common food according to her mother, but Minako found it delightful none the less. The attendant's bed stood on one side of room, a small and impersonal bathroom sat on the other. As she walked out, she went down the corridor, ignoring the bathroom and bedroom that were hers, favoring the last door in her room instead. It was the one that took her directly into her wing of the castle.

Each wing catered to the needs and advances for each specific planet, but, it also held another purpose. Some planets had different values, and to make the castle as diplomatic as possible, it was also broken into what planets served what purposes best. While Martians has spiritual powers, and often were sought out for their mystic expertise, those of Venus had a far different ideal in mind.

With a local jewelry store selling the finest of gifts to those who had the wealth, a small shop sold trinkets of minor value for a cheaper price. Being from the planet of emotions, often, money and value played into buying gifts for your lover, and these shops would carry, find, or even make anything you could dream up. It wasn't cheap, but, often, lovers who bought things in these shops would spare no expense.

An eatery for fine dining was open for all hours of the day and night, a formal dress code highly preferred. There was also a bar, where many poor and royal visitors alike shared the same calling to sample fine wine, simplistic beer and whiskey. Rich and poor mingled together, but it was more of a toleration rather than acceptance. Nightlife was what this particular wing was known for, and most of the shops and extra fare wasn't going to start opening for another few hours, during the early evening. Often there would be dancing and singing, sometimes even the Queen of the Moon found herself amidst the action. It was truly a spectacular sight.

The throne of Venus sat in the middle of everything; atop a pillar that could raise and lower, thanks to the technology of Mercury, the throne was a highlighted, shown to all who visited. Beyond that, the normal planetary council rooms found themselves dwarfed by all of the other large attractions. A store dealing with potions was somewhat a novelty for those who had never seen a Venusian store. Minako wasn't one to often visit such a place; however, stores of that nature were for aphrodisiacs and other items for nocturnal bedroom frolics.

The place she frequented was the small little area next to it. Her quarter was known for segregating the rich from the poor, however it was also known for another thing: being directly connected to the earthen wing by a door. This was the place she often found an interest. Mamoru, if he wasn't directly at Usagi's side, a rare event indeed, could be found in the earthen wing. In the event he couldn't be found, another man surely could.

She stopped; her finger lightly traced the doorknob that led into the connecting wing. Her mind was bringing forth thoughts and teaching of histories past. "Do you find something of interest?" A shadow loomed over Minako. His voice that of cool liquid breath, both tantalizing and mysterious continued to reverberate in the small hollow room. "Do you wish something of our people? Can I offer my aid, princess of Venus?"

This man, although he wasn't someone Minako loved, he was indeed a general, making him a possible figurehead for her to wed. Even if Kunzite wasn't of romantic interest she still found him to be a curiosity none the less. All of earth was a novelty for Minako, and for good reason. Earth was a planet of colonization. In fact, it was the sole reason the treaties of today even existed.

"I was just off to explore." She was casual, and quite pleased to be in his presence. Minako didn't mind Kunzite in the least. Raised to be a proper gentleman to a high degree, both men and women alike often confessed their attraction. Often he would turn them down, and a few wondered if there wasn't something wrong with him. "I find the earthen quarter to be more than simply an interest; you could call it unique to a degree."

"Indeed. I could call it that." Kunzite offered his arm, which Minako accepted with little hesitation. She already knew Kunzite to be a minor threat for her. "I suppose you would find us questionable, after all, Earth isn't exactly normality. I have come to love it though, despite the flaws and inner conflicts it carries." As he led her down the doorway into the wing known to belong to Earth, he took notice of how mesmerized Minako looked.

"Do you really think Earth is a flaw?" Her eyes turned to him, the simple question awaiting the answer he would give. When he didn't speak on his thoughts she sighed and continued. "Forgive me for my prying. I just…there is so much I wish to learn. I must if I am to be a good leader for my people. They'll end up counting on me, and I don't believe I am ready to take the throne until I know more."

Kunzite nodded at that. "Well, I will say this; no planet is perfect, no planet fully divine, we all share burden and suffer great loss. You could say that we of the planet Earth know full well what it means to live on each planet, and we also know why you all had war long ago. We may not have decimated each other like the planets did in the war; however, our values often place us at odds with one another."

That jarred Minako's memory further. Taking in the sights of what she saw not to be unlike what would be found in other wings, she thought about what her mother and teachers often spoke of. It was a war long ago, but that war had caused a great destruction. With each and every planet harboring their own customs and beliefs, none had really known other life existed. For those like Mercury, who had at least allowed for the theory it wasn't a major shock. For other planets, it meant danger, and after initial curiosity tempted fate, each planet realized that others would belittle and bastardize some planetary values.

Needless to say, that was what had started the initial war long ago.

Some families didn't particularly care that other life existed, nor did they care what values other planets had. Earth had been a planet stated to be unusable by any large population since its surface had areas that were uninhabitable. It was the only planet to have foundation of every other planet; however, it had so little of the mass, that it wouldn't be able to hold any planet fully.

The people of each planet who wanted nothing more than peace were given the irredeemable planet known as Earth, and over time, it was cultivated into the thriving land it was today. Rich and poor still held segregation, much like Venus, however other values and beliefs of every planet found their place in the newly formed society as well.

Planetary bloodline became so mixed and muddled, that it became impossible to give them the title of any singular planet, and thus, the orientation Earthling was born.

That had been years ago, and now earthlings were known as weak creatures. Unable to fully harness any innate abilities of other planets, they had accidentally suppressed planetary power through merged bloodlines. The somewhat amusing after affect was how they categorized themselves, choosing to segregate each other by race, rather than by planet. Each general had a portion of Earth that they owned and looked after, and Kunzite was the man of the Middle Eastern division.

He was a man who had some traits of Mars, Jupiter, and Venus if one looked at him closely enough. Tall and broad you could see the Jovian in his frame. Eyes lightly colored in a stony gray, and long off-white hair, he portrayed the fairness one would expect of a man from Venus. With his sword at his side well cared for, it was clear he is the strongest of all the generals. A ruthless fighter by nature housed a compassionate soul hidden within the depths; he also resembled that of the Martian heritage. If there were someone able to get close enough to him, he would likely show unwavering loyalty and devotion.

"Did something I say find your interest?" His words seemingly uncaring, his eyes stating otherwise, he was truly interested in her worry.  
"I was just thinking on what you've just said, and I can't help but worry for the future of this galaxy." She looked away, as if ashamed.  
"Minako." In a fluid motion his words caught her attention and she looked at him confused. "That is your name, is it not?"  
"Yes, it is my name." She answered him in a questioning tone. "Kunzite, that is yours?"  
"Indeed, it is princess." He removed the cape he wore and Minako knew what was coming next.

He released her from his arm gently as he looked down at her with a sincere apologetic look. "Minako, I am aware of the circumstances of why this will bring you the most unpleasant of moods, but I want you to understand, that I too find that I'm displeased about this arrangement. As a general of Earth, and one whom answers solely to Mamoru, fated to be named Endymion once he is king, I also stand as the leader for the Middle Eastern division. I understand that you've found a love already, a woman also among the guard who is forced to wed a general. I wish not to take that away, merely I ask that you stand by me in a political union. I ask not of love, but that you simply tolerate me, lead our peoples, and birth the heirs of the future. Could you please grant me that?"

She looked at him, thinking on his request. He had not declared love, nor did he state she would be forced away from Rei. His rationality was astounding, but under that, Minako saw a reason for why he stated his proposal as he did. "You have a lover as well…one among us also fated to be wed…this would be merely a political statement and nothing more for us, is that your wish?" She wouldn't fault him, but she would be happy to accept the request as it stood if that was truly his intent.

He saw the confusion in Minako and he willingly answered. "Do not misread my implication. However you are right, at least in some ways. Zoisite is a wonderful woman, however in the eyes of her people she is a soft and gentle man. She had no other option but to pretend to be a male so her father could step down. Earth is a very muddled place full of anger and discrimination. Zoisite would not have been exempt from that, and as a result she was raised as a small boy. Princess Ami will be well for Zoisite and I've no objections with the union. In fact, Zoisite has grown a fondness for Ami, and love is starting to show itself. I have stepped off that stage because it is in Zoisite best interest."

Minako was about to make a verbal comeback, but Kunzite knew about Venus and their customs almost too well. He cut her off at the pass, explaining what she surely would have countered with. "I do love Zoisite, but, that love couldn't last…I will not ask her to choose between Ami and I, nor will I ask you to choose between your lover and myself. If love should happen, if it does bloom between us…that is another matter entirely, however I will not force you into that love. If you love her, I will not separate you, as long as it is closeted and hidden from the public eye. Is this agreeable?"

Minako nodded, her voice hardly working. She couldn't believe she was willingly taking his proposal. "Yes." She answered in a bare whisper. "I will wed you, Kunzite of Earth."

Placing his cape on her shoulders, he embraced her in a hug, choosing not to kiss her. It was too soon, this wedding wasn't wanted anyway, and as a result, he only showed endearment towards Minako. She returned the hug, just as unwilling to kiss him, unsure of everything. When they separated, Kunzite asked what had been on his mind for a while now. "Who is it…this woman who has taken your heart so easily?"

"Rei." Minako answered back softly. "The princess of planet Mars."

TBC~~~

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Please leave a review. The next chapter will show its self within the next day or so.


	19. Chapter 19

A/N: I'm on a roll! Man that new website will hate me later for all of the updating I'll have to do…LOL! Please read and review.

I kinda made this one long; I was on a spree while my professor jabbered away about things we should have known last semester. In truth, while I like to learn, I don't like wasting my time in a class that could have been better spent reviewing for the next test. So, anyway, since Biology II likes to bore me into idiocy, I get to spend the next three hours writing this!

I do not own Sailor Moon.

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Chapter 18: Wing of Jupiter: Rei's continually bad day and Makoto the gentle giant.

"Oh come off it already." Makoto sighed as she continued to bandage Rei's wounds. "Just go talk with her…"  
"Right, I'll just walk my tight little butt right up to her… if I do, what exactly is it that I tell her?" The smart remark was merely sighed at.  
"Rei…" Putting down the bandages Makoto felt sympathy for the Martian in front of her. "You really should see Ami about that cut."  
"Oh, and automatically you know what's best for me now?" Rei was fuming, but her anger wasn't placed at anyone directly.

"Look at you." The retort was surprisingly sympathetic considering the notion was from Makoto. "You're hurt; you've never lost an armed battle before, and especially not with me. That's why I know something's going on." When Rei shrugged not really wanting to listen to this entire sob fest, Makoto finally lost her cool, punching the wall near Rei. She wasn't mad, or angry, however her frustration was starting to mount. "Look at what you've become. Thrashing your sword around like an idiot, Rei, you could have beaten me, should have…but do you?"

The girl of raven tresses sighed; there wasn't any use in a verbal shouting match. It didn't solve anything. It never would. Makoto wasn't ready to let Rei off the hook making the battle only one sided. "No! Not only do you lose, you fall and my spear almost sliced your back in half because of it!" Running a hand through her hair, Makoto wasn't sure what to do. "That was dangerous…and up with me in a fight it shouldn't ever be any sort of contest, not in weapon on weapon battle…so why?"

"If I knew that I wouldn't be here bleeding, now would I?" Rei shot back. She wanted to go back into her own wing and hide, perhaps crumple down into a corner and dress her wound with some medicinal herbs, but she'd much rather be in a hole some place punishing herself instead of hearing Makoto speak. She most certainly wouldn't want to deal with Ami or the medical wing… Rei would rather put up with a million Venusians feeling her emotions again just to help explain her inability to deal with this herself. "I protected her, why haven't I gotten my loyalty? What did I do so wrong?"

"So that's it…" It finally clicked. Being planets of a combative nature weren't the only shared bond between Jupiter and Mars. "You offered protection..." Makoto allowed the depth to sink in about what Rei had really offered. "Had she known the reality of it I think she'd understand. Our ways aren't easy to deal with."

The way emotions were offered also acted differently. They knew what the word love meant, however, that was a word mostly those of Venus or Earth used. On Mars and Jupiter protection and survival of those most dearest came first. Love, or the emotion of such an act, was offered by the action one took, never really spoken in a distinct verbal tongue.

"She's mine…" Rei all but whimpered. "She doesn't understand that…but, love I can't…"  
"I know, I know." Makoto plopped down onto the floor so she could meet eye to eye with Rei, green eyes searching for an answer in that of lavender.  
"What do you say?" Rei's question was filled with a curiosity and uncertainty that Makoto had never seen Rei use.  
"We say the word trust." Makoto smiled, thinking back. "To trust with one's body, one's soul…it's more that ownership and protection, its trust for us."  
"I understand that word…I don't understand the other word…that love thing." Rei nodded.

"Alright, listen, I have something to attend too, you can stay here, or you can go see Ami, but, you can't go wandering off alone. Not with your wound still bleeding slightly." It wasn't fatal, but that didn't mean Makoto trusted Rei to be good. "What will you do?"

"Fine, I'll stay here." Rei grimaced. "Just stop lecturing me…"

"Alright then, but, if I come back and your missing there is going to be hell to pay…understand?" When Rei nodded her understanding Makoto took her leave of the common room that sat within her quarters. "Feel free to walk around in here, just don't leave my quarters. I'll be back shortly."

Rei wasn't able to walk well, but looking around the room she found herself contented to just sit idly and think. The room was in hues of different shades of green, storm clouds were hand painted on one of the doors, and Rei was sure that was the bedroom. The bathroom was on the other end, and, was rather unusual. She shower was built to rain from the ceiling, the bath like an oasis sulfur pond. _'That explains why Makoto always smells like a Martian hot spring.'_ Rei mused.

Standing from her spot with wobbly legs she knew she could use a bath. The heat would be good for her sore muscles. Holding onto the wall carefully Rei made her way into the bathroom, testing the water temperature with her hand. _'Damn, it's cold.'_ Rei rolled her eyes, of course it would be. Just as Martians lived in a basically gigantic desert with little to no water, those of Jupiter lived in storms and rain. Even the areas of desert Jupiter had got plenty of acidic rain._ 'I should have remembered they bathed in cold water that was low in acidity and sulfuric activity.'_

While Rei was stuck occupying Makoto's room, the tall Jovian was off in her wing seeing to the needs of her people. Jupiter was further out of reach, and thus supply shipments were harder to monitor. A meeting with a few of Jupiter's council members called Makoto telling her she was needed. Thus she was now sitting in one of the many board rooms that occupied the castle, every high standing official of Jupiter sitting at the Oak-wood table.

"I can't agree with this." Makoto stood outraged at what she was hearing. "The fact is our people do not depend on me alone. It depends on this entire board and all of our elected officials. My wedding does not, and will never play a part in our galactic trade." She had spoken this time and time again, however she wasn't a political figurehead, and thus, her only option was to listen to their orders.

"That may be true; however, at court tomorrow, you'll know exactly what we mean. There are other governments at large, and some of these places, although within our boarders, do not belong within our agreed treaties. For the sake of our people it is important to note that only Earth has what every other planet has, and they do not have the resources to keep up our demands. You must become a figurehead. The planets grow tired of having this board caring for the demands that you should be held accountable for." One of the board men said.

The Moon's Queen also sat at the table trying not to say a word. Her place wasn't to state how planets handled individual problems. She couldn't state what she wanted; however, her mind was on Makoto's welfare. The board wasn't even concerned for their own princess. Sadly that was a board's job, looking after the needs of the entire planet, and, the Queen knew that.

"I can't stand for this…I'm not ready and the princess isn't even married yet. Have you ever thought of the fact I have no man to marry? Has it also ever occurred to you that the generals are not of my interest? I do not trust them, political union or not, you are forcing what cannot, and will not ever happen." She raged on fully aggravated about the constant marriage battle. "Not only that, but you all must realize, I'm not going to be dealing with any of the planets rulers, I'll be dealing with Rei, Minako, Ami…Usagi…I'll be dealing with people I've grown to love, people I can willingly call my family."

"Family you do not seem to respect. They are princesses Makoto, and they are not just personal friends that you can call on. They will have their own needs and obligations, as a princess and future Queen yourself you should know better than to expect the planets to look after you. You aren't a child any more, and your place is on the throne to lead your people. Surely you know this." Makoto stormed out of the room after that man spoke those words. She hated him; she couldn't believe the words came out of their mouths. They didn't understand and they never would.

Finally the Queen spoke slightly outraged at what just happened. "Well it isn't any wonder she hasn't any tact if this was how she has been raised." These board members were just that, political figures, however most of them weren't exactly family men. The women on the board weren't mothers with any sort of devotion, being a high ranking leader was a full time job, and compassion was few and far between.

"Forgive her rudeness. To address your daughter with such informality shall never happen again." One of the women spoke out trying to cover up the flaw.  
"You'll leave the girl be." The Queen spoke out. "Do you people have any idea how hard it is for those girls, and how difficult it is to be a Queen?"  
"Don't make excuses for her. She should have known better." The man sighed out again, The Moon's Queen was ever nurturing in far too many ways.

"I'm not making an excuse. I'm speaking as a Queen and as a mother. You're best option with that girl is to leave her alone. The poor child doesn't have a real family and you just sat there and ripped away from her the only thing she's ever really cared about. Yes, she's informal with my child; at court, if you'd bat half an eyelash at Makoto and the others, you'd see they are all like that. Far be it from us to stop them if they choose to be more than simply acquaintances." She stood up, excusing herself from the meeting in search of Makoto.

The wing strictly for Jupiter much like that of Mars, favored simplicity. The fighting rings made for unarmed combat allowed training for all who sought out means to defend themselves without a blade. Makoto was one of the best, as expected, however there were others who were also quite powerful. There were shops dealing in herbal medicines, very primitive, but also very soothing. The further you walked the more you'd find. Most of the eateries around in this quarter catered in only leafy foods since meats of any kind were considered a rare thing to eat on their planet.

Walking past all of the shops you'd come across the town itself. Jupiter, being normally a nomadic planet, often found that their people didn't stay in one spot for very long. As such, often you'd see a small outcrop of tents that were rentable for the outside traders. These people would never find themselves staying on the moon permanently, instead only coming to make an honest living and to buy things they normally wouldn't be able to acquire otherwise. That was one thing that made Jupiter's wing a rarity.

Most other wings had citizens who lived and stayed on the Moon, normally these people were of some importance. Be it military personal, political figureheads, or even those less fortunate, the Queen had a soft spot, and her dream, though far too great for her own two hands, was to at least offer solace for those who hand none. Other nomadic planets had people who had settled down on the Moon; however, Jupiter remained the only planet where the visitors never actually stayed for any length of time.

The Queen had made it a personal endeavor to befriend each of the girls and become a sort of second mother for them. The case was especially true for Makoto and Rei, both of them suffering from the loss of a mother. Makoto, as she grew older, found herself spending more and more time on the Moon, and the oddity of it all was that the girl wasn't ever in her own wing.

The Queen walked past most of the sights the Jupiter wing held, walking through Makoto's common room, she noticed Rei, passed out on the sofa and again sighed in exasperation, looking at the girl. "You fought with Makoto again didn't you?" This too was normality. Rei would get angry, Makoto would offer to spar, and, in times when one or both girls had an emotional problem an injury would occur.

"Yeah." Rei answered back with little enthusiasm. "Nothing serious…don't worry." Waving off her pain as if it was nothing was also common for a Martian.  
"I'll talk with you later." The Queen held eyes of compassion, but Rei knew she was going to be reprimanded for acting in a dangerous manner.  
"Alright." Rei didn't fight it knowing that type of action only made matters worse. "Just don't tell Usagi I got hurt. She doesn't need to worry."  
"It seems like someone needs too." The Queen responded dryly. "Have you seen Makoto? She walked out of the meeting pretty upset."  
"Oh? I didn't know she was speaking with the council members." Lavender eyes looked up in confusion. "Did it end badly again?"  
"You could say that." Taking a breath the Queen looked at Rei, speaking in a motherly tone. "Don't you dare move, I'll send for you later."

Then, she walked through the main door that led inside the castle walls. If Makoto was going to be anywhere it was going to be in a place that not many would know to look for her. Walking past the doors that led to the other more common wings, the Queen walked into her personal quarters and down into another set of hallways. This particular wing was hidden from most, however, Makoto knew this place well, and often she visited.

The sounds of children could be heard, and inside a set of double doors the tall figure of Makoto could be seen, children all around her. This was a sort of sanctuary for Makoto, a place where she felt she belonged, but then again, if anyone really understood her, it would be these kids. Orphaned or abandoned, these children knew nothing of real family. Unlike Mars, who took care of their own people, these children came from planets that really couldn't have cared about them. Many were from Earth, but some children of Venus and a few from Jupiter and Neptune did very little to thin the ranks.

The Queen watched on quietly. These kids loved Makoto, but then again, very few had ever been paid the attention that Makoto would bless them with. It was ironic in its own way. Makoto's strength was dangerous, her height and speed made her a very powerful tool for destruction. Able to bend pure steel and break brick with her bare hands, Makoto could be a very freighting girl even without the ability to transform. Looking at her now, a small and fragile child from Mercury in her arms, you'd never know it.

The kids were running circles around her, climbing on her, clinging too her powerful legs and arms as she walked around the room. The small child of shockingly ice blue hair seemingly unafraid of the fact she was being carted around by a person who could easily snap her in half. Instead, she was far more interested in messing up the long locks of auburn in an attempt of trying to braid it. Then a few muffled voices gave way as a stampede of small children ran to the door, Makoto carrying the smallest one in her arms, another child, slightly older clinging on her back.

"Where are you children off too?" The Queen asked with a conspiratorially amused smile.  
"We're going to go play in the garden! 'Koto said she'd take us!" One of the boys smiled from atop the Makoto's shoulder.  
"Really…she did now, did she?" The Queen was doing her best to keep the smirk off her face as she took in the sight before her.  
"Yeah, I told them I had some time. Want to join us?" Shaking the bangs out of her eyes became a futile effort as the little girl moved the locks around again.  
"I would be glad too." The Queen nodded as a few of the children grabbed at her hands, excited she was going with them.

The walk to the garden was as eventful as one could expect when you had a large mass of children running through the hallways, Makoto and the Queen joining them in the pace. The garden was a wondrous place that the children loved to visit. The greenhouse was rather large and filled with all sorts of flowers of the many planets. While the kids played, Makoto and the Queen talked.

It started about basic things, nothing too serious. The latest castle gossip wasn't something that really held either of their interest, and the conversation carefully morphed into a deeper topic for discussion. After touching base about Makoto's interest in the many orphaned children, it moved slowly onto the Queen comforting Makoto for the council's poor judgment of words. That led them to what they were discussing now. Rei, and her apparent interest in Minako.

"So, yeah, she went into the ring all angry at something. I couldn't just let her keep fuming." Makoto was recounting what had gone on earlier. "Rei said something about Jadeite being an idiot, but we all knew that really isn't anything new. Then I noticed her fighting was sloppy. Her attacks were ill timed and as a result she couldn't even hit me once, then on one of her offensive strikes she fell and I couldn't stop the counter attack quickly enough."

"And you think it's because Rei has feelings for Minako that she's been acting in such haste." The Queen sighed out. It was very difficult keeping up with Usagi, let alone the rest of the girls. "You aren't the first. Setsuna came and spoke with me a short time back. She stated the same thought process, however, she didn't tell my why she was afraid of it happening."

"You know Setsuna; she gets fearful if a butterfly flaps its wings the wrong way. It's not like she has control over fate, and she doesn't have any reason to be loyal with the Moon Kingdom. She's an outer boarder, there isn't anything we can offer that she and her people can't attain some other way." Makoto looked on, she never saw any children of Pluto among the orphans. She found it odd sometimes, considering the natural lifespan.

"She has every reason to be loyal." The queen corrected. "Her mother told me long ago, when I was a small child, that Setsuna was different. She didn't like to be lonely, and for mages taught to know nothing but solitude she was the odd one out. Trista, being the old woman she is, most likely knows of what she speaks. It's easy to forget, that even if Setsuna is around my age, she's still very much like all of you, lost and alone. Unlike her mother, Setsuna fights fate very hard instead of accepting it."

"I've never seen anything like that." Makoto raised an eyebrow at that. "She seems very by the book in my eyes. She's prim and proper, quiet and respectful; I've never really seen her act out of normality. She does what she should, when she should. Only way she's been childish is when she's with Hotaru."

"Setsuna has her own subtle ways of defying fate." The Queen laughed slightly, remembering the past very well. "When we were younger, she would look into the time stream and find out what she would supposedly have for dinner, and purposefully, make sure, no matter what, she would eat something else." It was little ways like that, Setsuna showed her defiance. It wasn't anything big, but for a time mage, seeing and toying with what fate could want to do could sometimes be a risky proposition. "In her own way, she's quite the rebel, however, I suspect in time that will wane out completely. Until then, she is much like you girls; age doesn't exactly play a factor."

Makoto took only a moment to absorb those words when one of the children came back yawning, and snuggling into Makoto's lap. The child was small, innocent, and very much in need of a family. Sadly the little girl would never have that, so, for just this once, Makoto sighed, pulling off part of her traveling fur she had yet to remove, draping the vest over the small child. "Why do they do this?" She asked, green eyes sparkled in confusion and pity.

"Not many come to show care for these children Makoto. Sure, in passing some are given kindness, but you come around. They know you, and, I think some of them see you as a sort of older sister, perhaps a mother, I don't really know." Brushing aside some strands of auburn hair, the Queen sighed. Makoto has so much of her parents in her, although the traits she earned were quite the interesting mix. "You used to do that too, when you were her age. Your mother and I would be sitting on one of the benches, your father and my husband would be trying to break something, and you would sit in your mother's lap, eventually falling asleep."

"I don't remember that." The honest reply was lost in confusion. "But still, it's not what I mean. I was asking why they do this, because each and every time one of them do, I end up with a kid attached to me the rest of the night. I just can't say no to them. Not after what happened to me, it wouldn't be right to just walk away, but I can't take them all with me, and I can't stay here with them forever, so what is it that I do? Why do they have to make this so hard."

"You've just answered your own question." The Queen laughed lightly, she knew Makoto was going to end up stay with the children tonight because it happened almost every time Makoto went to visit. "They can't ask you to stay, so they try to be near you as much as possible. They hope you'll come back, that someone would remember them, and when you do, they feel like they need you here. When you go away, they'll await your arrival."

She looked at the children around her, before addressing Makoto again directly. "I have to go see a young Martian about acting irresponsible with a sword. I trust you'll be a suitable babysitter, don't let them stay up too late, keep them away from the snacks after dark and make sure they clean up their play area before they go to sleep." After Makoto nodded that she understood the directions the Queen made her way down the hall trying to suppress a laugh.

She would go into the large room tomorrow with toys strewn everywhere, the children passed out every place but their own beds, and Makoto would likely be sleeping on the floor with the smallest ones cuddled around her with their thumbs in their mouths asleep. Every snack known to man would have been eaten, the television alight with the static one would find after a movie. Once again the Queen would laugh, knowing full well, that with Makoto as a babysitter the children would have a good time, but almost every rule the nanny had would easily, and surely, be broken.

TBC~~~~

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Please leave a review!


	20. Chapter 20

A/N: Guess what, another short chapter. I may not have class today, but I do need to study for upcoming tests and prepare assignments, so, with that said, back to the short 2k chapters from before. It makes updates timelier, unless you all get lucky and my professor goes on another 3 hour long boring tangent.

I do not own Sailor Moon!

I really think I need to shove that as a different shade of blue, above my head along with the magenta and ice blue streaks I have already…

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Chapter 19: Wing of Mercury; Eyes of clarity

"The wounds really aren't that bad." Ami explained, as she finished gathering her supplies. "We can dress them in her own wing, for a cut that size Rei will be up and fighting again within the week." Grabbing the gauze and proper disinfectants, she idly wondered why she was doing this anyway; Rei would likely tear off anything she would put on the wounds in place of ground herbs and sloppy long strips of cloth.

"There is something more I would like to ask of you…if you don't mind the inquiry that is." The Queen trailed off slightly. She knew that out of all of the girls, Ami would be the most sensitive for this particular topic. Receiving an affirmative nod as her answer, she spoke what her mind wished to know. "It's about Rei and Minako…you don't sense anything odd about them, do you?"

"Not besides the fact that Makoto went missing today to spar with Rei, I don't know much of anything." She finished by taking a syringe that would hold a liquid sleeping aid, if anything, it would be a good way to keep Rei in one spot. "Minako, well, she's always been a bit flighty, that isn't unusual. As a total, I'd find myself questioning their behavior, but here I am, a woman about to marry another woman simply because the treaties state it must happen. In all honesty, if we are acting a bit odd you can't really blame us. This isn't what you, or any of our predecessors were told to do, so, why should we be forced?"

"You already know that answer." The Queen deadpanned. Ami was the only one so willing to go along with this; the other girls had been fighting it since day one. The answer should have been rather obvious.

"Correct. I do, and I understand the consequences of action. I was raised with logic in mind; however, with Rei raised with the pretense of family values, and Minako raised to know only how to act purely on emotion, they are different than I am. You cannot expect them of all people to take this in stride. Jadeite, in my personal opinion, is a sordid excuse of a man who could never make Rei happy. Minako, for the type of person that she is, she could never lay with a person she didn't truly love." Taking her supplies and placing them into a metal box slowly Ami's sighed. "Speak with Rei, I'll be there soon."

The Queen nodded, walking out of the medical center and down the hall, out of the large science labs that were too sterile to be of any comfort. Here most of the castle's computerized systems kept the rest of the Moon, and the other wings comfortable for each respective planet. Be it the rain simulation for Jupiter, or the extreme heat of Mars you could guess that Mercury's wing had a hand in keeping everything pleasant for everyone.

From there, it was a path of ice and frost with shops filled with electronics and medical substances. Freeze dried, almost tasteless food sat in packaged rows at almost all the food stop, and injection supplements were also available. Some of the more expensive food was freshly cooked, normally coming from shipments other planets got too much of.

A firing range for guns, as well as a virtual training facility was a hot spot for anyone interested in combat. The only actual scholastic programs found their place in this wing. Although, education wasn't forced, mostly considered a novelty for those who lived on the nomadic planets or a planet where an education didn't exactly entail textbooks. The library of general knowledge, as well as the all the highly important documents were guarded by not only manual security, but also robotic aid.

The end of the hall, led into the main castle, the center hub for every other wing. The Queen wasted no time finding and entering the Martian quarters where Rei was currently being tended to by a small boy. "Thank you child, but I will tend to her now. You have done well looking after her." The Queen addressed, but the child did not move, instead looking at Rei, clearly awaiting an answer.

"It's alright Kadar, go back and help father with the supply shipments." Rei spoke to the boy she had helped back on her home planet. He nodded, before quickly leaving the room, not addressing the Queen, only doing as Rei had requested. "Sorry about him, father has just arrived for the court meetings. I guess the little guy is still a bit shy."

"You know him then?" The Queen answered somewhat amused as she pulled the scraps of cloth from Rei's back, continuing to clean the wound where the boy had left off. "I was wondering why I hadn't seen him around these parts; I try to make it a point to know everyone who resides on the Moon personally."

"He's just a stray kid Minako and I found in the Martian inner cities, Father took him in as he does with all of the stray children." Rei shrugged not really one for speaking on her personal issues, highly welcoming the subject of Kadar as a substitute for the time being. "Good kid, but he's...well, according to Father he hasn't been having an easy time of things. Can't blame him though, the kid doesn't really have anyone else, and it's clear he's exactly the strongest kid around."

"Children need a home and a family. They need more than what many offer them, and I know Jed has expressed the same concern when in regards to Mars. Apparently values are starting to diminish; he seems displeased with the cities." She placed down the cloth and sat back a bit. "Is he the one who moved you back in here? Your Father I mean."

"Well you told me not to walk, what the hell else was a supposed to do? Levitate around the palace?" The sarcasm was obvious as Rei's aggravation at such a simplistic question sank in. "In any case, I'm not an idiot and I know your worried, so, get out with it already…I'm tired of these games."

"Must you be so difficult?" The tone was motherly, and instantly Rei backpedaled, quieting in response to a tone that she wasn't used to having aimed at her. It was a weakness. Women could easily maintain power over Rei, especially the mothers of her friends. "What am I to do with you? What can I do when all you do is get angry and fight all the time?" Blue eyes of soft understanding held a wisdom Rei couldn't bear to look at, instead finding the floor instead.

"Rei, look at me." Again the motherly tone made Rei freeze up. She wasn't sure how to deal with it. Yes, she and the Queen had their heart to hearts, but instances where this tone would be used only came at the most emotional of times. "Why do you fight everything people tell you? Why is it you fight so hard against something you know you'll never win?"

"Leave it alone." Rei whispered into the air, afraid to look up as the Queen had commanded. "Just, leave it be. It's not something you could understand."

"No, you're right. I don't understand." The Queen relented. "I never understood your father either when he let your mother go running off. I never understood why your mother pulled the stunts she did, sending us all to hell and back chasing after her, and inadvertently causing the ruckus she was so famous for. I'll never understand why Minako takes after her mother right down too her very name, and, I'll never understand why you act so reckless that no one, not even Usagi, can handle you."

"You don't get it because your power blinds you." Rei sighed out; misty eyes trying their hardest not to let loose the emotional torrent that she had wanted inwardly to let go of. "You'll never understand what we can't have. What I'll never be able to do, the things I will need to live up too, the people I will be compared too, the woman I don't know. How can you know any of that?"

"I can't." The Queen smiled softly. "But, I can, and do, know some things. I know love is a strong desire, a power we can't understand, just as fate will do as it shall, no matter if we want it to happen or not, love will strike in places you'd never think to expect. I also know that your mother sought out happiness, and, she found it. Her final words were that of love and care, a smile on her face. She wanted you to be strong, and, physically you are stronger and more skilled than Makoto."

Rei's eyes hardened as she noted the pause in the speech. "Why do I know I'm also an acceptation to the rule?"

"Because you are also weak." The Queen knew speaking this was going to cause trouble; however, she also knew not saying anything would also cause issues to occur. She chose the lesser of the two evils, and perhaps, in the process kindling the greatest power of destruction ever known. "I know you love her, and, in that love, you seek to follow the path your mother once had, choosing to chase love before duty, however, unlike your mother, you will never be happy with the man you must wed. He will never care for you, and, you will be unhappy. Your mother never wanted you to be miserable."

"Well that's what I'll be isn't it." Rei finally lost it, tears falling from her eyes in waves, blurring her vision as she thrashed to move, her wound reopening as she tried to leave, only to be pulled into a hug. The Queen was going to ruin her clothing from Rei's reopened wound, but she didn't care, this girl was crying like a child without guidance truly lost. She was so distraught she had completely forgotten she was exposing herself now that that she was standing upright. "I'll be unhappy, because that's what it takes. I have nothing else left. I can't do what I want, so what's that point?"

"Shh, none of that." The Queen soothed, she knew this would happen. Rei was often the defiant one in the group, but, beyond that, even as a small child Rei had always been by Minako's side. It was almost crazy that no one had seen it. That too was a lie, it had been seen, and a fear was also realized when one thought of the consequences if Rei acted as her mother had. "Are you afraid to be with her?" The question to the point, yet very softly spoken. "Are you that fearful of her Rei?"

Rei didn't answer, clinging tighter instead. Raven tresses fell into her eyes as she buried herself deeper, seeking a mother's protection. It was a feeling that was so unusual. Rei never really remembered her mother, and yet, at this very moment, it had been what she wanted most. Someone who could tell her she would be alright. Someone who knew the pain. She never sought out her wants and dreams, always being the strong warrior, but who was her protector now? Who could protect her from her fears, her weaknesses? Rei did have them, though few and far between, and right now, it seemed as no one could care, that no one would care, besides the woman holding her now. The one who had always been the motherly figure for her, the voice of reason for all of the girls.

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Ami never went into Rei's room, knowing all too well that she never would have been able to get near Rei, let alone dress her wounds. The Martian was too distraught, too broken for any more uncertainty, and the Queen, being the motherly figure she had always been, ended up using the crushed leaves and torn cloth that Rei knew and trusted from her planet. Sleep came quickly for Rei, but it was not peaceful.

As the Queen stood up she sighed out, knowing full well Rei couldn't hear her, but, that another figure could quite well from her lookout position at the time gates. "I'm sorry Trista…I know you didn't want me to do it, but, I can't let them be hurt anymore. If fate really will do as it wants, then, I want them to be happy for as long as they possibly can be."

The figure at the gates did nothing more than cringe. Leave it to the Queen to meddle with what should have been best left alone. She looked at another door, a dark and hateful passage, and only one outcome would occur. No going back, no redemption, and the fall of a kingdom waited only a few short years from the very second. Fate would do as it saw fit, and the Queen hadn't helped slow the progression at all.

Resigning herself, Trista looked at Setsuna who was asleep on the sofa, Hotaru in her arms sucking her thumb. "Well I guess the positive side is that she's making this about as quick and painless as possible…still, it won't make it any easier on you two for quite a long time." Trista rubbed her temple, feeling one of her migraines coming on. Looking at yet another door, only a possibility far long into the future, she smiled.

It was a long time away, however, fate always left a window for good things despite all of its hardships, and if the gates held any truth at all, it would be that the future, even if not for a very long time, would be very bright indeed.

TBC~~~~

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Please leave a review. Yeah I know it was kinda sad, but don't worry, I have something cute and fluffy planned for the next chapter... Now all I need is for a small child (Codename: Fishboy to those who know him) to stop trying to "help" me... three year old's don't exactly make the best typists in the world.


	21. Chapter 21

A/N: Please read and review. We are taking a short pit stop back in the present day to visit a particular time mage, and her thoughts on the current events.

I know you all want your fluff, and you'll be getting fluff, I promise, but, not before a little more set up.

I do not own Sailor Moon

Chapter 20: Irony

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Setsuna POV~~~

The level of humor and skill one must have when dealing with what I happen to dabble in is actually quite astounding. You have to have a poker face to rival that of even the best gambler, and, even more so, you need to be able to play the hand that you're dealt, without fail. You are given hints, and guidance that is fluid like the ocean, but also slippery like that of ice, the smallest of slopes enough to cripple you or worse.

You must be able to have mercy on those that you know will harm you. No one is perfect, and the level of forgiveness you must be willing to hand out in my line of work is one thing, although minor, that keeps you from insanity. I, being the mage that I am, can see the gates, the future, the past, the possibilities, and the failures. Without an unending level of forgiveness, and renewed sense of trust, you'd never be able to deal with daily life. I know when I will be harassed, belittled, betrayed, and when I will be praised, loved, and honored. These things are things that can affect a person's mentality, and, that is something I must never allow to happen.

Life goes on, just as it always has, just as it always will. Some form of living creature will always remain; there will be no final end. Yes, time stops and starts for creature such as human, or Senshi, but, life, in and of itself never really ends. It will always exist someplace. In the smallest of organisms, or the largest of beasts, life, even if it is only one solitary creature, will always remain. Without at least one, there cannot be the all encompassing world we know, and, without the large vast unknown that is life, the one would never have a reason to live in the first place.

This was one of my first lessons; the one who thought me that lesson was nothing more than a small child when I was shown such a truth. Outcast from most of the universe, she hadn't had a reason to trust anything, instead, she feared others. Everyone else except me to be precise. It's funny how life, and fate for that matter, work and in hand. For a prime example, that very same child is running in the grass, playing around with a girl I know to be a future Moon Princess. Paradox led them both here, but, both are happy, and the once forsaken child is now a part of a large and loving family. I now call her my daughter.

How it happened, under all pretense and logic, could be traced back into a time where I was still quite foolish. Then again, I'd like to think I still am. After all, if I wasn't the royal idiot I was back in such a past, I doubt that forsaken child would be alive. Yes, I am quite a fool, this girl shouldn't even be alive; however, I wouldn't have it any other way. In my time of living a lonely road I've come to decide one thing…

Fate can go screw itself in the rear end for all I could possibly care.

Now yes, if some people, namely a few gods I know better than to anger, ever heard me utter that, then I would be punished severely. In my defense I would also like to say that it hasn't stopped me before. I don't listen to fate, because according to fate I would have died in countless explosions, and other oddities that I really wouldn't want to tempt. Not if I was as by the book as I should be anyway.

Nope, I may look cool calm and collected most of the time, and yes, I do try to set an example, but really, I'd rather beat fate with my staff than listen to what it has to say. It's been wrong before, and, if it wants to cast us all into oblivion, it'll do it no matter what I try to do to stop it. If fate wants fish to start flying in the air and birds to start swimming, then, that is what we will need to put up with, now won't we?

That's why I'd rather not live paranoid.

What would be the point? I'm an old woman who should have died so many times I've lost count. I'm still here, I'm still breathing, and I'm still dealing with the same idiot friends who are still as odd as ever. One of them, a blond named Haruka, has an affinity with cars now. With her tracking oil all over the place constantly, her lover Michiru, forever scolding her to be more careful with supplies, I find life has changed only slightly.

They used to fight just as heatedly back in a past, I can remember that vividly.

I smell cooking in the kitchen. I'm not sure what it is, but Makoto never fails in making a five star dinner. Surely a salad will be in place for Haruka, and that reminds me that fate seemed to get a bit confused, last I remember it was Makoto who preferred greenery, but oh well, not a big deal I guess. Makoto is still Makoto, and Haruka is still Haruka, despite some minor differences.

Chibiusa just fell again, she really could use shoes that have elastic so that she doesn't trip over her laces, but, I can muse about that later. I go over and for what I think is the umpteenth time show to her what the term bunny ears mean. After her shoe lace is tied I go back to the porch, I know someone is watching over me and although I never see her, I know it's my mother. Forever the lone woman as always I guess.

I see a group turn the corner into our sub and I roll my eyes at the sight. Minako is skipping around again acting flirty and poor Rei is just gawking in a full on blush. Usagi is smiling, although I can't place the exact reason, and Ami seems to be in careful thought. Her eyes forlorn, and I know she's probably thinking of a woman from long ago. Now that memories are starting to surface, I know the poor girl is left wondering what will happen down the line, I may not know that, but I do know this…

Fate, as much as a pain in the butt as it is, will gift us many things as long as we can stand the trials.

I know it to be the truth. I look at Usagi and her eyes are starting to look happy again. She smiles her goofy smile and Rei rolls her eyes as Minako becomes the clingy girl she can be. I know that Rei is looking embarrassed, slightly aggravated, and overtly confused, but, those emotions aren't aimed at Minako, but Rei herself. You know, sometimes I wish I could just toss Rei head on into the past for only a moment and show her what she used to be, or rather who she used to be, and then I wonder, what's the point?

She'll come around one day and finally, after Minako gets some sense into that girl, Rei will start to talk. That talking over time, provided Minako is gentle and very slow in her actions, will win Rei over again. Once Rei awakens her true self, well rather, once everyone pulls forth their real identities, their real origin, I have a feeling Rei will also awaken a passionate side of herself that she had kept somewhat hidden away before. Part of her soft side that made her as strong as she was will be brought into light one day. When that day comes, Rei will likely be stronger than ever…

Still, even if I know that too be true, there was once a time when she was one of the weakest Senshi. She fall hard, dragging all of us with her, and back then we followed willingly. Back then, we fought a larger battle that anything they will ever remember. Fate intended it this way, and still, even if they won't ever remember, I still do. I remember so that these girls won't ever have too, the gates forever sealing that segment of memories.

It is a pity too, in its own way. As dark as those days were, they held some of the most passionate and wonderful experiences any of us had ever known. Times filled with trials gave us weakness, and within that weakness, we found, and chased, what we had thought to be the real meaning of love.

TBC~~~~

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Please leave a review.

I am so going to fail my upcoming test, well ok, not fail, but GAH! It's so hard to study when you've got a really good chapter in your head you want to work with.


	22. Chapter 22

A/N: Yay for another long pain in the butt lecture of stuff we should already know… I swear, sometimes this teacher rambles about nothing at all. This is a biology class, not an I have no idea what, alright tuning this guy out now… (I want my old professor back, I hope she comes back from her maternity leave soon… sigh.) One positive thing about this is that I'm able to power through my assignments rather quickly, leaving me more time to write.

You'll have you fluff, just give it one more chapter. Until then, why not enjoy this.

I don't own Sailor Moon

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Chapter 21: Past Reborn.

"She loves her you know." The Queen answer out at the man behind the wall, hiding from others.  
"I know." Jed sighed; he was getting stressed, hoping it had only been a phase in her life. "What will you do about it Ikuko?"  
"I will stay my place, protecting all of the girls as best as I can. I will allow them to pull whatever stunt they may." The Queen spoke softly.  
"Are you sure this is the best of ideas?" Came the reply from the Queen of Venus, making herself known.  
"That all depends." This was the voice of Trista. "How far do you want to dictate their lives, how much will you force?"  
"It is not our place to tell them what to do, fate has already dictated failure." Ikuko, the Queen of the Moon answered back.

"Trista, is this true?" Jed questioned sternly. "Can nothing be done to change fate? Will the White Moon really fall?"  
"With the actions as they are, nothing can, or ever will be able to stop what fate intends to do." Trista replied with utmost clarity.  
"That's not an answer I can accept. Will we fail our task?" Jed rephrased his question, ready to go for blows with the time mage if she withheld information.  
"Stop." The Queen of Venus called out, halting Jed in his tracks. "It won't bring her back…Azar is gone because of us…so just stop...Rei could be next."  
"Preposterous!" Jed was now angered. "Rei is strong; she would not much such poor choices. She was raised to know better than to act as if she was a fool."  
"Oh, and Azar was?" The retort was full of venom, a fight between love and brawn. "Azar acted foolishly because you and I failed her, don't forget that."

"In any case, you two bickering over the dead isn't going to solve anything." Trista rebuked appalled at the argument. "Azar would be yelling at the both of you if she were here. Look at you, two rulers acting like the children you've raised…what would Azar think seeing you now?" Trista took a moment to calm herself, now wasn't the time to be angry. "Fate can and will act of its own accord, you can either accept it, or fight it. Either way, fate will have its ways to overpower even the strongest fighter, or the deepest of love. Fate will end us all, and our children will become the future, keep this in mind before you point fingers. No one lives forever, and one day, all of us will suffer the fate Azar did."

"Yes, but I want to know when." Jed replied, highly annoyed he wasn't getting what he wanted. "We are all as good as dead one day. The question is when?"  
"When there is nothing left for us to cling too, when deception strikes in places least expected, then and only then will fate fully take its toll." Trista answered.  
"You speak as if the deception will happen closer than we seem to think." Jed caught on. "Out with it! Who and I will have their heads!"  
"I think not." Ikuko bristled back, not liking to aggravated tone in Jed's voice. "You'll do no such harm, not without more than a mere premonition."  
"Enough!" Jed shouted. "I don't care what the hell you think will come along, I don't give a damn about your fate, I care about Rei."

"Exactly." The Queen of Venus answered as she cornered Jed into a wall. "You can't handle it. You can't accept Azar is gone and Rei, the little girl you raised to be a strong Martian, maybe, just maybe, she takes after her mother slightly, finding love where everyone hoped she wouldn't. Guess what, this scares the shit out of me too, but, I will not sit by and let my child be harmed by my stupid fears. Jed, grow up and realize, Rei has the blood of Azar in her veins, and, that means she isn't just a Martian warrior, she has the blood of love incarnate, that of a Cytherean, the closest remaining thing to Aphrodite's bloodline within her. Not even I have the bloodline your child has, don't you see? Rei can't just be your little warrior forever."

"Besides that." Trista came between them, her eyes that of power, wisdom, and understanding. "Rei is a young woman. It's only natural for her to act this way, being so lost and alone…it shouldn't be unexpected. She love's Minako and, I fear if we make a move to fight them, we will see the true power of women and their scorn. Furthermore, fate will have its way, and if fate does, for whatever reason, intended to thwart our kingdom, why should we futilely fight it, or that of what our children desire?"

"Does your child wish something as well, Trista?" This came from Ikuko, looking on in a hopeful gaze.  
"I would not say she wishes something, but it is clear Setsuna's mind has been preoccupied as of late. Although, I do not know why." Trista was confused.  
"It is safe to state that we have done well to raise the children given the situation however, I also fear we cannot protect them from themselves." Ikuko mused.  
"What of Usagi?" This came from Jed, his temper quelled, but not fully at ease. "She will allow this, or merely denounce and ridicule them?"  
"My child will accept the situation, even if she will not endorse it. I have raised her to act as a woman of acceptance." The reply was most assured.  
"Understood." Jed answered appeased only slightly, walking away from the family meeting that always took place in the shadows.

He sighed, going down into the cultivated hot springs that were hidden deep within his wing. They simulated the ones one would find on Mars, but they didn't really compare to the real thing. At least not in his mind. He disrobed, sighing as the heated water touched his skin, happy to let go of his troubled mind. He wasn't sure why, be he felt a presence that always drove him up the wall. Someone of his youth, and also, the person who could absolutely control his every move should this woman see fit. She too disrobed, entering the heated water.

She stood in front of him, and he knew that look. He knew it well despite the fact he never should have seen it in the first place. "It's not a bad thing Jed." The woman before him, the Queen of Venus sighed as she looked into his eyes, causing his desire to become a feeling that she could tangibly notice within the air, along with his stress and concern. "They may be young, but, they are strong together."

"I am aware of their possible strength Minako." He sighed, pulling the women onto him, his eyes that of a stony power. "What still eludes me is why they must follow in our footsteps. Why can they not be happy away from danger, why can't they accept things the way they are." Nothing separated their bodies, and he relished the feel of skin on skin, he truly adored this feel. "We had to accept it, why can't they?"

"I assume it's because we never could. Trista always said history likes to repeat itself. I assume it will be the same for them, and the love they share." The woman of Venus laughed as Jed rolled his eyes and she asked a question she always mused. "Do you think that if the arrangement hadn't been with Azar, you and I would have wed?" Her hands rested on his chest, fully aware of just how close she was. The water refracted the shows and light that barely illuminated them.

It was the same question he always answered without hesitation. "Minako, you are the woman I loved first, however, I had to follow tradition. Azar, she was a loved forged by an arranged union, and she grew on me, the same way I was hoping Jadeite would with Rei. However, as I have always told you, had it just been us, and not an arranged marriage, you would have been my wife. Let me ask you, had love not consumed you on the battlefield, had lust not overtaken you, would you have ever considered Azar you're equal?"

"Azar was a tainted street rat when she was adopted into my family…that's what I had thought when her father was unable to care for her. A woman of a black gem…I never cared for her as family, and honestly, had she and I, not done what we had on the battlefield, I would have never accepted her as your lover. We never knew her real origin, no one told us she was a pure blood, she would have never been gifted such a tainted gem if we had known in the first place." The woman sighed, their past was stressful and confusing, it was muddled by time, but it wasn't any easier.

"Fair enough." Jed sighed. The three of them had grown up in a rivalry with each other. "Azar, she was strong, but, you Minako…so are you." He pulled her close, embracing her in his arms, sighing at the feel. He missed this with Azar, he knew in his heart that Minako did as well, however, he was glad that he still had one woman he cared about, one woman who could ease his feelings. "What ever happened to Azar's old blackened diamond anyway?"

"My daughter has it." Minako smiled. "She clings onto it without letting go, and, I think it's for the best. You know, I never let her into the outer city, because I never wanted her to know the truth behind that gem. Do you think…Azar would hate us if she knew what we've let our children become?"

"I do not think she would hold such distaste." Your children were birthed of a strong marriage, as I approved of, and the adoption of a so called street rat, was something she thought was funny. It always amused her, all the way up too her dying day. So, in short, yes, I think Azar would approve. We've lost our loves, and, so we've returned to what we know. I see nothing wrong with that Minako. Your husband would not want to look down from the heavens to see you suffering."

"We lost a great many friends and family, didn't we?" The Queen of Venus thought back. "The illness took away the lives of so many. It completely tore away the lives of everyone from Saturn, and, not only that, but our people were also afflicted. Think of all who've we lost just because we fought needlessly."

"The illness was strong, but, that is why they call Saturn the land of death, and rebirth. They say the promise land lies beyond the transportation barrier, but I think it holds something else, something more precious." Jed answered with a slight tear in his eyes.

"Oh and what's that?" The question soft, the voice full of care.

"I think, what we would find there, would be more complex than we would ever explain by common terms, but, if I was to give it a name, it would be best described as a place no real mortal belongs. You saw the lights, I think; those are the spirits of rebirth, the ones who don't want to go back into the stars just yet. We became ill, I think, because we all saw something that no living, breathing person should see. We paid the price heavily." Jed sighed, and then chuckled at his own hesitance. "I think we would find our lovers, still dancing around like we used to as children, I think that place, holds all or our lost innocence."

"We too will find out soon enough." Minako sighed. "You are still harboring the illness, as we all are, but we cannot sustain forever, and soon, we too will not be long for this world." She lifted her hand from underneath the heated water, and caressed away Jed's tear. "Until then, I don't want my innocence; I want my tainted love, my imperfect life. Take me to heights I remember so fondly as a woman, not only of Venus, but as the lovers we used to be."

"Because you are Mine?" Jed wondered about that sometimes.

"No, we do not belong to anyone anymore. We don't have any right to claim anyone, or anything anymore. Take me because it is what you wish, free of the shackles and bindings of a past you still want to hold in so deeply. Claim me only momentarily and release my jealousy. Let us be what we are. No more, no less, than what we were when days were still so simple."

"I will." He answered, as he moved her body to mold with his, no longer allowing her to have any control. She was such a captivating woman. "It is my promise to you, and mine alone." He answered, his lips finding hers in a heated kiss as they embraced and lit the fires of passion that they knew so well.

TBC~~~~

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Well, I bet THAT little bombshell caused question's to be raised.

If you'd like to PM me, you can be sure that I'll answer you when I have time so don't feel afraid to ask. I'll be updating my website later this week, and, when I do, you can bet that all of the most recent information will be there. Just sit tight as I plow through my homework an study first. (and write more story at a spastic pace.)


	23. Chapter 23

A/N: Well, I was going to give you your fluff, but, it kinda escalated just a little bit. Here is your fluff with a hint of something else… I know I NEVER write lemons, but guess what; I've had my foot shoved directly into my mouth with this chapter. If you aren't sure you'd like to read this chapter, you don't have to; it was only going to be the fluff request.

Since I'm not used to writing scenes like this, nor am I very good at coming out of my embarrassed shell when it comes to knowing if this is going too far or not, for those of you who do choose to read this, let me know how I did with it.

I do not own Sailor Moon

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Chapter 22: An Understanding.

The court had ended early for the day, nothing but boring collaborations and tough discussions to take up the entire day. Rei had gone missing mid way through part of the deliberations. Now that it was late afternoon, there was very little more to go over until court met again the next day. Minako sighed, her betrothed at her side. He looked uncaring; however, his emotions spoke otherwise. "Why are you still sitting there?"

"Huh?" Minako asked, pulled from her inward fret. "This is my quarters; I am at liberty to do as I please here." She answered as she stood and paced.  
Kunzite put down the scroll he had been studying. "Would you just go to her already." He shooed her off. "It does no good for you to worry."  
Minako didn't need to be told twice, exiting the door. "Why did you allow her to do that?" The womanly voice of her mother called from the bedroom.  
"She was annoying me with her frantic actions." He returned to his scroll. "How am I to read if she continues to be so restless?"  
"Do you honestly not care that she will go off to see Rei?" The question was imploring. "Are you willingly allowing it, no matter what?"

He sighed again; all he had wanted to do was finish his task. "Listen, Minako and I have an understanding. She can and will go to Rei as she may please, this union is merely a formality. I have no intention of causing a woman such as Minako undue stress purely because of our obligations. We will produce heirs; however we both agree that it is not from love that those heirs will stem from. I do not love her, and I could never love her as that Martian would." He returned again to his scroll, uncaring what Minako could possibly be doing with Rei. It wasn't his concern, and, he made sure to note that yet again.

Minako ran down the halls looking for Rei. The girl of raven tresses not to be found in any of her normal places. It had been an hour of searching with no luck on her side. Giving up, she sat down in the palace garden, tears streaming down her face. She felt so lost, and without Rei by her side, she wasn't sure what would happen. A stern, self angered voice startled the blond as she found eyes with cold, inwardly guarded lavender. "You're crying."

A wise crack could have been made about Rei's powers of observation, but Minako was too preoccupied feeling the warmth Rei was giving her. She didn't know what to say, or how to say it. All eloquence she may have had lost by an emotional torrent that Minako couldn't control, grasping onto Rei. "Stop crying." Rei ordered softly. If Minako was this hurt, this distraught, Rei wasn't able to keep them out in the open. Martian teachings kicked in, and Minako felt herself being whisked away by strong but feminine arms.

Thick trees provided cover for the girls. Rei's eyes ever scouting, ever protective as she listened for the cause of Minako's suffering. Rei knew she was the main cause; however she couldn't trust the area, not with the woman in her arms so distressed. "Minako." The possessive voice ordered attention, fear taking hold of Rei. "Speak and tell me what you need." It was Rei's job to provide for her family, and that's what Minako was, wasn't she? Rei couldn't be completely sure.

"You." Minako hitched between sobs. "You Rei." She clung even tighter, emotions overtaking in ways she wasn't sure about. She felt the warmth of Rei's arms, and she felt safe, but, she also feared that if Rei let go, she would be unsafe and alone again. Rei's scent was that same sandy sulfuric smell she had grown acutely familiar with when she had slept in Rei's embrace on Mars. "I need you with me. Not only as a protector."

"Then how." Rei's voice implored. Her heart was being torn between her job as a princess and her protective and possessive need for Minako. She couldn't have both, but, this woman called too her attention. She could feel Minako shake her head in a voiceless response and Rei pulled away slightly, bringing Minako's face to look her in the eyes. "Tell me Aino Minako, woman of Venus. Tell this Martian what it is you really want from me, because you've confused me with your tears."

Minako saw something in Rei's eyes then. Something that Martian never uttered aloud. The stare was cold, but, it was also a mask that protected that emotion. One forged in only inexplicable ways. A drowning, passionate emotion was consuming Rei fully and hopelessly. Those eyes held walls that would possibly shatter, and beyond that, Minako saw love. "I…" She paused, for the first time, utter and true fear of her own emotions taking hold. "I want your love Rei."

Lavender eyes furrowed. "I don't know love Minako. I can't give you what I do not know. Just as you can't give me loyalty when you do not understand what exactly it entails." Rei frowned in confusion staring Minako down. "Still, I know I want you at my side. I don't understand you, or this ideal of love that you speak. I know you do not, and will not understand me and my meaning." She shook her head, sighing outwardly. "I have called you mine and I still want to…"

Minako looked into lavender eyes, knowing full well what she was about unleash. "Well then Rei…" She said slowly, pulling herself away slightly, grabbing one of Rei's hands intertwining her fingers, her voice lowing to a bare whisper. "What's stopping you?" Her blue eyes were searching an answer, seeking some sort of comfort.

"I can't…I have my obligations, you have yours." Rei's eyes were remorseful. "You will wed a general, as will I, we will lead our own lives and that's all there is to it."

"No." Minako's voice felt strength, but only because Rei had none. "No Rei. I don't want that. I want what I have now. You, here with me, like this." She embraced Rei then, pulling the girl close, the heated air carrying her voice to Rei's ears. "I know you'd never know the word love, or use it like I do, but that doesn't mean you don't feel the term in your heart." Placing her hands on either side of Rei's cheeks, she pulled the girl into a searing kiss, trying to pour the emotions she felt into Rei, trying to get her to understand.

Those emotions were intoxicating Rei. Normally, that was something that a person of Mars feared. It was a way that those of Venus could be deceptive in battle, but Rei couldn't find a hint of malice behind Minako's kiss. What she felt was insecurity. The way Minako's tongue toyed with hers; it was hesitant, fearful of rejection. When Minako lightened the kiss, Rei felt baited breath mingle with each and every chaste press, before Minako once again leaned in, nibbling lightly on Rei's lower lip.

One thing Rei noticed, the one thing that pulled at her consciousness was that Minako was being submissive. She was asking Rei to tolerate her, but, she was also awaiting domination. Minako, while in control, was only in such a situation because Rei was allowing it, and Minako, for displaying such a fearful uncertainty, was begging for some type of answer. This was often common among new lovers in a Martian relationship. New situations often warranted that the protector, the head of the house care for and provide for their family.

Rei took control, pulling Minako gently away, breaking the kiss and looking into her eyes. Her voice was that of the Martian she was, voice thick with power, but also a level of devotion that no one would dare match. Not if they wanted to live to see the next day. "You need to understand, I want you Minako. I want your term called love, your body, your soul. I want you. If you allow this, I will be the Martian that I am. Could you even begin to handle that?"

Rei trailed her hands down shoulders and arms that led to delicate hands. "Could you take me on, would you take me on? Martians, we are strong, dominant creatures, but when we get out of line, we need to be put back into our place. If you stood by me as a lover could you do that with hands like these?" Rei brought one of her rough hands and placed it palm to palm with one of Minako's soft and gentle hands.

Blue eyes looked on in confusion as Rei removed her hand, instead, placing both of them on one of Minako's legs, starting at her ankle and moving their way up slowly in a light caress. Minako had a very toned and beautiful set of legs. Long and slender, but, by no means weak. Still, they were far different from that of a Martian. "Would you walk in the blazing sand Minako? Martians are nomadic, we cannot stay in one place, and we scorn city life. Would you walk along side me as only that of a proper suitor would? Could you welcome the long walks, the blisters, the burns?"

Then removing her hands again, she replaced them on Minako's shoulders, moving them slowly, keeping eye contact with crystal blue eyes of confusion as a sort of understanding hit home. Rei was truly worried Minako couldn't stand up to the task of what loving a Martian would entail, to stay by them was daunting for even their own kind. Tanned hands stopped just above Minako's breasts, searching for any sign of fear, finding none, and Rei moved her hands freely over and down the front of Minako's shirt, making sure she coped a deliberate feel of the woman in front of her. Once at the hem, Rei stopped, speaking one final time.

"We can be dark people Minako. We Martians can have a very dark and possessive side that we fear, this fear haunts us greatly. Because of our spiritual prowess, at night we can become extremely uncertain of the future. Premonitions can mingle with our greatest nightmares, and these things, Minako, they can consume us into becoming the type of Martian you fear. I am not, and will never be exempt from that rule. I am disciplined, but, when the chips are down, when I am well and truly afraid, I may not be strong enough to resist that side of me that becomes the true woman of war, the possessive power that has given my people a bad name. When it happens it is a frightening thing, as my lover, you may have to see, or even face that side of me."

Minako stood quietly, taking in the severity of Rei's words. The real fear behind them wasn't something fake, or a mere warning. It was a plea, as if Rei was begging for a sort of deliverance from these fears, all the while warning Minako that these fears were not merely child's play. They weren't a bug or a scorpion you could kill, these fears weren't tangible for the eyes, and yet, could very easily consume a person. "Do you understand me Minako? Do you understand what it means now; if I were even to allow you to continue this? The question now remains, would you even want too?"

There was no hesitation in Minako's voice, only firm determination and a strict sense of devotion. "I may not understand everything right away, but I want to be yours Rei. I want to be the person that stands by your side, and, as I a woman of Venus knows, I am not easy to deal with either, but we can figure things out. I can't promise it'll be easy, but I will promise that I'll do whatever I can to see us through. I love you Rei. I know you don't understand that emotion, but I do."

Her hands fell over Rei's then, before trailing up Rei's arms, slowly moving closer to the woman in her gaze. "If you need more convincing than that, I'll tell you something I know you understand." Minako took a breath, she had never done what she was going to do, and acting exclusively on courage alone she trailed her hands underneath Rei's shirt. She hardened her eyes, something she normally would never do in a situation like this, speaking with an air of authority that she rarely ever used. "I may be yours, but, you are also mine, and for right now, you will do as I say."

Pulling Rei into a dominating kiss the raven haired girl didn't have time to refuse, instead falling into her role as the submissive lover. Rei wouldn't have her way right now, and, she knew it. Minako demanded, and Rei gave her undying loyalty that only that of a suitable Martian lover would. When Minako removed Rei of her shirt, she did not deny the blond. When Minako gently pushed her to into the ground, the cool grass prickled Rei's back. Again, she did not make protest. Allowing Minako to do by her will, Minako's hands found access and wandered over Rei's breasts and stomach.

"I will protect you too. I will take care of you. Don't move Rei, don't fight me, only accept me, and all that I am." Minako murmured into mingled breath as she kissed Rei's lips one more time before lowing herself, placing heated kisses on Rei's skin. The girl of raven tresses bit her lip as Minako had her way, grasping into the grass around her, she closed her eyes. She felt the gentle, but very alluring ministrations overtake her body. She had never felt this way before. The heat in Minako's breath gave Rei goose bumps as she claimed what was hers.

The girl of raven tresses felt her body heat up, as if someone had lit a bonfire inside of her. She felt fearful of such an unknown and obscure feeling. It was intensifying with each gentle kiss, light caress, and every single movement that Minako made. Too afraid to open her eyes, to unclear within herself to trust what she would see, she kept her eyes closed, giving Minako full access too her body. Rei had been told not to fight back, and thus she was doing all in her power to submit and trust this unknown feeling.

She felt Minako's presence on her breasts, giving her soft and gentle attention for what seemed like forever, her mind swimming under Minako tender, yet very unnerving power of seduction. She felt removal of more clothing, and Rei had to do her best not to pin Minako under her. The sensations were driving Rei mad inside. Part of her wanted to cry for some unknown reason, and another part of her wanted Minako to continue further, and Rei, being so unsure, continually kept trying to anticipate Minako's every movement.

Then, she felt something at her entrance. Rei was a princess, and she knew Minako was going to take from her the only thing that bound her into the world of purity. Through closed eyes, Minako spoke again, softly. "Rei, if you're going to stop me, now, and only now, is the time." Minako's voice was soft and full of love and through the haze of feelings that had Rei so utterly confused, lost within herself she shook her head.

"No, my Minako, don't stop now." She spoke through gritted teeth, but, it was clear fear was evident in her voice. Had Rei had her eyes open she would have seen a look love in Minako's face. Instead, her eyes stayed closed as she felt a sharp pain take away what hadn't been fully torn from constant battle training. As the pain dulled, she felt pleasure, the same unexplainable feeling from before, intensify even further, and it wasn't long before her haze consumed her, causing her to shout out as the warrior that she was.

The high was incredible, but, it also scared her. Nothing should ever feel like that. Nothing should strip her bare of everything and yet make her feel completely whole. After she finally calmed down, she realized she was buried into Minako's arms, crying like the woman she was. Not a strong warrior, not the dominate Martian, no she was crying as that of a woman. She couldn't explain what she was feeling, but when Minako gently kissed away her tears, she realized that it wasn't something she would ever fully understand.

Minako's words were spoken lovingly as she looked into misty lavender eyes still clouded in the emotional aftermath. "My Rei too." The blond spoke softly. "Always my Rei."

TBC~~~~

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Let me know how I did. I'm not sure it's very good, but like I said, I hadn't ever done anything quite like this before.


	24. Chapter 24

A/N: I bet you all love this substitute professor. He's causing rapid updates due to absolute boredom.

I do not own Sailor Moon.

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Chapter 23: Deliberations.

"I disagree." Usagi, the Moon's princess shook her head after hearing what had been stated. "The Dark Moon and White Moon should have a coexisting treaty built. Surely they do not act as we do, but, in their defense, we were at odds with ourselves for the same reasons, were we not?" Usagi had a level of understanding that made her very wise despite her appearance. "I think there is a chance we could tolerate each other."

"I agree, a woman of their personal party has spent quite a lot of her time on earth. Her name is Beryl, and despite her attitude, I think we may just be able to sort an agreement out." Mamoru spoke next as Setsuna sighed keeping quiet. She wasn't aloud to interfere.

"I think this wouldn't be in the best of plans. We have had issues with them before, have we not?" This time it was Rei, her view on the combat outlook being her main concern. "Far be it from me to cast aside a possible ally, but, we have had youma attacks before, how can we be clear that the Dark Kingdom and their government isn't in affiliation with possible enemies?"

"It wouldn't be plausible. We have proof that the supposed affiliation, the Dark Moon as some call it, is from another segment in our time and space anyway." Ami placed her computer into a display mode, casting out a gigantic hologram from the table to see and Makoto just knew she was about to get lost. "With advancement leading off into other quadrants of the universe, Pluto has given us a way to begin preparations for theoretical space and time transport ability based on a numerical value chart build upon historical information and probable outcome."

"Alright, now say that again, but this time pretend you're talking to a complete and total moron." Makoto gawked out. This was one of the many headaches that royal deliberations gave her.

"Affirmative." Ami then again tried to explain. "Thanks to the technology of Pluto, we of Mercury have been able to create a sort of tracking program. It is currently in experimental phase one, and still has many trials to endure, however with the equipment as it is we have also gained a powerful way to configure possible outcomes via a local area data bank."

"O-o-k" Makoto was now even further confused. Provided the random stroke of luck that anyone actually understood any of what Ami had explained, Makoto tried one last time. "Would someone else care to rehash that in a language I can understand in one sentence or less please…" Ami's damnable computer and explanations were insufferable for someone of Jupiter.

"She has a new toy from Pluto that can apparently help us gather information; she just hasn't finished working the bugs out." Usagi answered simply.  
"Thank you!" Makoto praised. "Ami, take note, that's how you give an explanation."  
"Yeah, and it was from Usagi no less." Rei deadpanned getting aggravated. This was an eight hour long debate already.  
"I think we need to take a break until tomorrow. We won't get anywhere if we're tired and cranky." Minako explained.  
"I agree. The information is starting to merge into a blob in my brain." Makoto sighed holding her forehead.  
"Very well, then we shall come back tomorrow to discuss this further." Usagi stood, walking out with the rest of the girls, each going their own way.

Setsuna was meandering her way back to her wing when she saw Makoto scoffing at something unseen from her vantage point. Setsuna already knew who it was and continued on; ignoring the fact that Makoto was using terminology unbecoming of a princess. When the male had finally left, leaving Makoto alone, Setsuna smirked, having not seen Makoto quite so railed in a long time.

"I'm not going to hurt you." Setsuna heard Makoto speaking softly with her head underneath a corner table. "You can come out of there; Jadeite was just being a butthead. He won't come around you anymore with me here." Setsuna rolled her eyes trying to withhold the comment she would have wanted to say, but instead went over to Makoto's current point of interest.

"Would you care to tell me just who or what is under there, Makoto." Setsuna asked holding the glass vase in place knowing full well Makoto would bash her head into the table in reply.

"Nothing really, but I think the kid didn't have a very nice encounter." She answered with one eye closed, rubbing the sore spot on her head.  
"What kid?" That caused an eyebrow to be raised as Setsuna looked under the table at Hotaru cowering in fear. "Hotaru, it's alright, you can come out."  
As the child responded to the familiar face Makoto could only chuckle. "Kid likes you I guess." She shrugged, starting to walk away.  
"Wait a moment." Setsuna soft request caused Makoto to stop moving but not turn around. "It would be an honor if you would join us for tea."  
"Huh?" Makoto really wasn't big on the aristocratic fare. "I'm good, if it's cause you think you owe me, don't worry about it, kid's fine."

"It isn't that." Setsuna sighed. Things were so hard to do, surely she knew what to say if she had wanted to manipulate things, but, there was no real chance for her if she had mused that path. "I just have an interest, shall we say, regarding fate, and you've just done something that's twisted it slightly. I wasn't expecting it to happen, but, let's just say since you've opened the door, I'd rather not just wait for it to close."

"What the hell is it with you mage's and talking like philosophers?" Makoto laughed as she leaned on the wall. "So, I'm an interest, eh? I'll play your game for a bit as long as you stay out of the snobby wings. I'm not looking for any more stiff environments for the rest of the day." She looked at Hotaru, who still hadn't spoken. "Kid got bigger I see…"

"One could say that, but, don't you think calling her Hotaru would be best?" Setsuna tried correcting Makoto's actions, a failed endeavor indeed. "It is her name after all." Hotaru had grown bigger, a sign of a growth spurt that Setsuna noted to keep a careful eye on. The little child was still quite small, and mute in her actions, making not so much of a whimper. "Hotaru?" Setsuna addressed the child, "Is this girl of interest to you too?"

The little one only nodded and Makoto looked brashly at the child of the silence. "What do you want with me?" A defensive answer made the small kid flinch, hiding under the table again, quickly fearful of Makoto's gruff voice of power. "Uhh?" That confused her as she looked under the table, causing Hotaru to back into the wall away from reach. "You alright Hotaru?"

"Hotaru, it's alright, come back. She isn't going to hurt you, although I may hurt her." Setsuna warned with a careful eye on the tall Jovian. "You need to be careful. Truly a baby born from the womb of fate, her reasons of existence are merely innocence for now. You'll do well to remember that although a future danger she may be, she is also only a child now." Hotaru was picked up then, placed on Setsuna's hip. A worried look on her face made her bury closer to the woman who protected her.

"She doesn't speak at all?" The child hadn't made a peep the entire time she had seen her, and that was something new for Makoto. "Last time I saw her, she was laughing and playful. What the heck happened to change that?"

"Join us for tea and I will surely explain what it is you may want to know." Setsuna answered walking down the corridor into the gardens. "Please follow if you wish to do so, either way, your choice about tea holds no bearing on fate. It is merely an event to bridge time." Setsuna walked on, and Makoto felt inclined to follow her.

Tea in the gardens had been prepared, a note written in a script Makoto hadn't seen before gave Setsuna a soft waning smile of content. "Leave it to mother to always know the comforts of home." Setsuna explained, lifting the refined cup of perfectly blended tea. "A any good guardian of time knows, it isn't only the type of tea, it is the way you allow it to brew and steep that allow the finest of taste. Just like with anything so immaculate, one must wait and try many times to have a proper outcome."

"Right." Makoto's reaction delayed slightly trying to understand. "I know that the topic of tea wasn't your main priority, so, what exactly is it?" She took a sit of a cup that had been offered too her, smiling as she realized it was a deep flavored coffee found only on her home planet. "Where did you find this?"

"A good mage prepares for anything and my mother isn't at all excused of such greatness." Setsuna looked off to Hotaru who's current attention was held by a small fluttering bug. "The child is our topic, my reasons, well they are not my own as of yet. I hold a concern for you, and for the child, but, beyond that I cannot say I agree with allowing the lines fate has drawn up. I can't sit idly by, and, now I wish to fight it. I want some ability of impulsive action. Actions you take upon in haste accepting trials. You are a sort of life reflection for me. You survived what surely would have killed me."

"My impulsive action shouldn't be your concern. If it really has to be, then I feel like I need to question the why of it. Why are you interested in such impulsive and dangerous things? You know it'll get you into trouble, so why the heck would you do it in the first place." Makoto's eyes were calculating, but not all together sure. Something seemed off, Setsuna never acted out of order.

"That is what I want to know of you." Wine colored eyes held a level of question behind understanding. "You know you'll be penalized, and yet, you almost always act out. I want to know how you can so willingly. It's like you beg to be punished for your actions." Shivering, she knew the cost of a betrayal when it came to fate, but, a part of that, although scary, also felt exciting. The fact that she was still breathing currently meant that fate would permit her to act this way, and now, she wanted to test the bounds of how far fate would let her go.

"I guess it's because I don't want to be controlled." Makoto shrugged but smiled lightly. "If people always do as they were told, there wouldn't be anyone who actually understood what freedom was. It's because of the people who fight against the masses that things progress. Sometimes it's not always the right thing to do, but what I rebel on, well, that's my choice."

"That does indeed make sense." Setsuna nodded. "How about if you wanted to test how far you could go with something…you know, pushing the limits without going too far?" Her gaze that of mystery, but also troublesome, Makoto couldn't help but really take that question in.

"You're doing that right now." The answer was a statement, matter of fact with no room for denial. "You wouldn't be here talking to me, asking me of all these things, if you didn't want to defy fate. If I were you, I'd go and do the last thing you knew fate wanted you to do, and then I'd go about my life until I got into trouble. But that's just me. You have different laws; you'll be killed if you cross a line too far."

"If I did the thing fate wanted me to do least of all, what would you do to me?" Setsuna asked as she quirked an eyebrow. This was getting…interesting.  
"It all depends on what that thing was…" Makoto answered simply. "Care to spell out?"  
"I want to defy what I know will happen." Setsuna paused, lost with how to explain. "I know of a way to do it without getting into too much trouble."  
"I'll help you if you really want, just tell me what I have to do." Makoto answered simply, it couldn't be that bad, could it?

Setsuna held the gaze of emerald eyes. She sighed and then looked over to Hotaru. 'I'm doing this for all of us, aren't I?' She thought out, closing her eyes looking once again at the gates for only a moment. "I hope you can take the heat Makoto, this is going to be one hell of a storm." With that, she pulled the girl closer to her, locking her unapproachable and collected eyes into those of somewhat panicked, confused green. Without hesitation, she pulled Makoto into a kiss.

The girl was frozen, she couldn't move, although she dearly wanted too. For some odd reason everything was frozen, time standing still. Then Setsuna pulled back, and darkness filled the area, a vision occurring in front of them. Makoto, now free to move was also lost. She could barely understand what was going on, the visions too blurry for her eyes to see, and just like that, the vision was gone, lost within the depth of memory. "What the hell was that?" The tall girl was breathless and even more confused than before.

"It was my power, that of time and space. That is why I will never be allowed to love and that is the one law I wish dearly to deify the most."

TBC!

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Well, now we know why Setsuna is always so withdrawn… :D Please read and review.

Next few chapters you'll be in for a bit of combat action, and perhaps not in the way you think, so be ready.


	25. Chapter 25

A/N: I really wish I had internet in class, and then I could be working on the website as well. Aw well, I'll let this guy jabber away, at least I can write another chapter.

I don't own Sailor Moon.

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Chapter 24: In Order to Love.

"No, not like that." Minako sighed, trying to teach Rei the finer points of what a particular term meant. "Rei, it's a soft and tender thing. You're not trying to own the person when you make love. It's more of like, a mutual thing." They were walking down to the royal stadium where battle practices were about to take place and in the mean time Rei was asking questions about Venus, and their rituals when in the regards to such a confusing word.

"Ok, I don't follow. You have jealousy because you don't want someone to be with another person, but instead of owning and claiming them, you just get all annoyed and don't really stop it?" These Venusian customs were confusing her. "And what about this whole making love thing…are you really telling me that there isn't a stronger person keeping charge? It just happens, just like that? What are you people, nuts?" Rei was really and truly confused.

Martians never slept around freely. If they were in a relationship, they stayed in that one, single relationship, yet, here Minako was telling her that those of Venus weren't always so devoted to only one lover. The kicker was that even if sleeping around did happen without approval, which was rare, the lovers normally didn't voice their discontent or forcefully stop the actions.

Then there was the fact that lovers could switch the roles in the bedroom freely. There wasn't a stronger more dominate individual who permitted anything. Both were equal in the giving and the taking of such things. It was all a big mass of mayhem waiting to happen. In Rei's eyes there was Martian order for a reason, and those reasons were often clear. "How do you all end up not maiming each other?" Only Rei would ask the question and mean it seriously.

"We are that of love honey." Minako reminded yet again. "We don't need to kill each other to get a point across." When Rei raised an eyebrow in amused confusion, Minako twisted Rei around, pressing the woman who was much stronger into the wall, speaking hotly into Rei's ear. "There are better ways to deal with issues than fighting. Need I remind you, there are other ways to dominate someone other than brute strength?" Minako placed her knee between Rei's legs placing a soft pressure there. "Remember that dear." Rei nodded dumbly, gulping at how dry her mouth had become so quickly.

Just as quickly as Minako had pressed her to the wall to speak, she backed up, continuing her walking from before leaving Rei to catch up. "Alright, so you don't need rank, power, and standing…so what is it that you do need?" Rei was the type of person who had been raised to think that the needs of the family came before all else, and, it was the head of the family who provided such things. Rei being stronger and faster in combat made her the protector, and thus, the head.

However, it was clear that people in Venus had other needs, and quite obviously, Rei couldn't provide some of them. Not in the ways she knew how to provide for a family anyway. "Understanding." Minako spoke as if that were obvious. "Yes, it is true we need food, water, and all the jazz, but it doesn't mean we have a happy home life with just that. We need a level of understanding and freedom as well. You stay by the people you claim, you give them unending loyalty expecting the same in return. We aren't much different; it just works differently for us."

Rei gestured for Minako to continue, now engrossed with what she was hearing. "Well, I'll put it to you this way, we expect loyalty. I wouldn't want you sneaking around for example, but, it doesn't mean I would care if you did have a second person sleeping with you. I would just want to know about it honestly. If I asked you something regarding what you were doing with whom, I would expect an honest answer and not a lie. In return, I'd know you had given me that loyalty for being honest and open not trying to hide or be ashamed of it. Make sense?"

"You do realize if anyone comes near you sexually or in a way I don't approve of, I would have to throttle them…you do know that right?" Old habits die hard, Rei was still a Martian in that respect, but, her brows furrowed in confusion and she stopped in her tracks. "I shouldn't feel like…" She trailed off, now she was well and truly scared. "Minako…you don't intend to leave me do you?"

"What brought that on all of a sudden?" Blue eyes gazed into those of lavender, trying and failing to figure out what was wrong. Rei's feelings were jetting out vibes that even Minako couldn't read, they were simply too muddled. She stepped closer, putting a hand gently on Rei's cheek, pulling the raven from her inward momentary prison. "What just happened?"

"When I said I'd have to throttle the person, normally as a Martian, it would be a normal response without a need for an explanation, but then…" Rei wasn't sure how best to explain it. "Protection wasn't it, not like it should have been, and it wasn't feeling jealous…it was more like…" She shook her head unable to explain it. She did know one thing; she never, ever, wanted Minako to abandon her. Panic set in, almost tackling Minako with the speed and force of the hug she gave, pulling her closely. That feeling, whatever it was, had frightened her. "Don't do it. Just promise me you won't ever leave." Her words were rushed, even more proof that she was well and truly afraid. "Never do it Minako. Never do that."

A very clear emotion came through and Minako sighed somewhat eased. Rei truly had Venusian emotions, she just never understood them. "I'm not going to leave you. You don't have to regret what you said, it's alright." The tone was gentle, just as Minako always tended to be. She pulled back a little bit and she saw the sadness in Rei eyes. The sadness wasn't aimed at Minako, although it was clear that's how Rei had taken the feeling to mean. Martians rarely had regret or remorse for dealing with people who had harmed them or their families.

Martians retaliated, but Rei clearly had spoken of such and then felt badly, causing Minako to sigh. "I'm not upset." The girl said again, but Rei still looked confused, and it was clear she was still upset.

* * *

Battle practice wasn't any better, and Rei's moves were sloppy and ill timed. "What's wrong with her? She's not even parrying correctly at all." This came from Jed who was watching in the stands, the Queen of Venus at his side. "Never mind the fact that if she fails to time her blocks correctly again that sword will go right through her gut, it's as if she's a child again." He watched as she was removed from the ring, Makoto up next to challenge the current victor, Kunzite.

"I don't know, but I think we need to talk." Minako's voice came from behind them; her eyes hold a very serious look. "I want to know the truth."  
"Truth about what exactly?" Jed was as clueless as any Martian would be in this situation. "You'll need to ask Rei what her issue is, I don't know that."  
"That's not what I mean and my mom knows it." Minako shot back. "I felt the emotion, I know what happened a few nights ago, don't play stupid."  
"Calm down." Her mother sighed. "It's true what you felt; Jed and I did make love, what of it? Why does that of all things concern you?"

"Because Rei's hurting, and I know you know something. Her mother, Azar was from Venus right? Then you know, what's happening to Rei?" Minako wasn't really sure why, but something just didn't feel right lately. "Everyone is acting strangely. First I see Setsuna in the garden with Makoto, something that hasn't ever happened before. Rei's jumpy, again, for no apparent reason I can figure out, and to top it all off, deliberations ended again without any conclusion to the problem. Something, I don't know what, but something just isn't right."

Both of the adults looked at each other. They honestly didn't have a clue Rei was even suffering, yet Minako clearly seemed to think that Rei was. "Before we get lost in a panic, tell me something." The Queen of Venus spoke softly, trying to understand her child's distress about Rei. "What do you think is happening too her? Has she grown ill or something?"

"I don't know." Minako answered back, her eyes looked as if she was about to cry. "I don't know for sure, but today she felt remorse over something she said. Something that I know she should never have felt regret over. Rei…she's changing somehow, it's like part of Venus is calling her, and it's like she's having in inward fight. I just wish I knew why. She cried today, afraid I was going to leave her; it was like she was feeling Venusian insecurity. She's been doing that a lot recently. I don't think she even understand it herself."

"Did you do something to give her that fear?" Her mother asked, although it was clear from the way Minako spoke, but even worse than that, she felt Rei's being all over her daughter. It seemed they had also made love, and the feeling was starting to embed its way into Minako, the blond girl having fallen so deeply for the Martian girl that she practically screamed it from her inward emotions.

"If you have to ask me that, then I assume you've already confirmed your own worries. Yes I slept with Rei, and yes, I do love her. I'd advise we find it what's wrong with her quickly, because she was so fearful today, so emotional, and even in practice she's unable." Looking down, Minako could see that Makoto had finished her spar, Kunzite bowing as he stepped out of the ring, Makoto the new victor to beat. Up next would be Jadeite and then it would be Minako. "I have to go, but this conversation isn't over. I really do want answers."

Minako dressed for battle. Her armor was light weight, but very solid and a good protection. At her side a small slender sword she rarely carried stayed at her hip. She wasn't half bad in battle, but, she was clearly not as strong as Makoto. Both in the ring readied their positions. She pointed her sword in his direction. "We stop at first blood." Minako warned, knowing the man before her tended to get just as overzealous as Rei in combat. "No striking critical areas. Remember this Jadeite, Minako warned." He was known to be ruthless for a reason.

"Oh don't worry, I'll have this over quickly." He snorted, pulling his blade making the round start.

He was fast, but Minako was limber, and it made for an interesting start for the fight. Swords clashed, the sounds of metal scraping hurt Minako's ears. It was a most unpleasant sound. Again, it sounded and she was pushed back, the best she could do was block and wait for an opening. Her armored glove held her sword strong, unwilling to back down. Then, he missed her, acting only a moment too slow, and she responded back with her own clash of blades.

This continued for a few moments, the exchanging of blade maneuvers never ending. Acting only as a warm up for both, Minako grew tired of this, knowing he could fight far better. She blocked him once, before sending a swords strike that he was forced to dodge completely, sending him to the ground. She twirled her sword away from him, allowing some space for him to move. "Fight me please. This doesn't do us any good if all you continue to do is fling that sword around."

"If that is your wish, I shall be happy to grant you a proper fight." His words came off as too enjoyable for a man who had just been knocked down to the ground and suddenly Minako found herself dodging a sword as he moved swiftly about the ring. She would lose to him like this if his speed continued. He was far too strong for her and she knew it. His speed kept her moving, her eyes focused on him and his blade instead of his feet.

It was a costly move she soon realized he tripped her. This was the moment in every match that defined a good spar. If the opponent backed away, like Minako had earlier, they hadn't been done with the match. If the opponent called themselves the victor, they would face a new opponent. He didn't do either, placing the sword in front of her instead. "I thought you wanted a fight…" He spat, pushing her back onto the ground with his foot.

It was then, that a blur grabbed him, hurling him into the stadium walls with deadly accuracy, kicking his weapon away with her foot. "Don't you ever do that again." Rei spoke quietly; Martian rage was something nobody ever wanted to have the wrath of. It was clear she was trying to place firm control over her anger. "Do I make myself clear?" Jadeite didn't say a word, merely scowling and she jostled him again to gain his attention again. "I asked you a question..." She reiterated. "Do. I. Make. My. Self. Clear." Her words of venom were a dangerous truth indeed and he nodded his understanding.

She shook him again pressing him further into the wall. "I said speak!"  
"Yes." He answered back. "You've made yourself clear."  
She let up on him then, turning her attention to Minako. "Are you alright?" Rei looked at her, the girl was still on the ground and Rei became worried.  
"I'm alright Rei." Minako sighed out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. "I'm alright, its ok now."  
"No…it isn't." Rei shook her head. "I want you to leave the fighting arena; I will battle him in your steed. It's too dangerous for you to fight him."  
"But what about the match?" Minako couldn't understand. Martians apparently needed strong lovers, so why was she doing this.  
"I will battle you properly after this match, for now I want you out of this ring. He is not a proper opponent for you to test your skills." Rei answered.  
"Don't kill him." Minako ordered with an air of authority, unsure what Rei would really do under this type of anger.

The raven looked at the man she was about to face and then back at Minako. "The rules of this battle may change, Minako, I will do as agreed by he and I. If he wishes a battle to the death, I will abide by his wish with honor, but really, I doubt he'd be so stupid. I will not act outside of the agreed rules, I am a warrior of the planet Mars. Needlessly shedding his blood is not my intention."

It wasn't exactly what Minako had wanted to hear, but, it was better than an outright promise to end his life. She nodded understanding and left the ring quickly. She knew Rei had been placed on the line when jadeite acted out of line during combat. It was clear that Rei wouldn't be appeased without a battle of some nature, not when it had been quite clear that Minako had just been threatened.

"What is it? What's going on?" Makoto questioned seeing the two hotheaded people in discussion. "What does Rei think she's doing?"  
"I wish I knew myself." Minako sighed out. "One thing I can say is she's dangerous right now. It won't be wise to cross her."  
"Clearly." It was Jed he had run down from the stands. "If you two really did consummate a relationship, then she has just viewed this as an attack."  
"I don't like this." Minako sighed out. "I have a very, very bad feeling about this entire situation. I just wish I could place it."  
"What should we do now?" Makoto's arm was in a sling, she wouldn't be able to stop an all out brawl at this moment.  
"Leave Rei be." It was Usagi, her soft words were saddened. "Getting involved wouldn't do any good."  
"We can't just leave her alone in there with him!" Makoto knew all too well the power behind Rei ability to fight when angered.

"We can because it's not in anyone's best interest to stop her." When everyone but Jed gawked at her, she just sighed, her wisdom clouded with her true understanding. "Listen, Rei is a very protective and loving person, but she does not understand that. Her ideal of love is to protect, and, if she loves Minako, who was clearly placed into danger, Rei wouldn't stop being a walking nightmare until this is resolved. I don't like this any more than you do, but if we let this fester I fear just how badly it could affect Rei, and the consequences of that could be even more dire if it isn't in a controlled environment."

Meanwhile, in the ring, a different conversation was taking place. Rei was angry, but, her mind focused, being the Martian she was, one with honor and authority, she mentally resolved that she would handle this in a proper fashion according to her people. Because her people didn't run on a formal government system, only the strong persevered, and you solved you differences combat. Duels were held to correct imbalance, the strongest of warriors were those well known, and often praised if they were deserving of a great title.

"State your rules." Rei hissed out. "I want a clean cut match."  
"First out, no killing blows." He answered back.  
"Are you sure you can handle that?" Rei would be more than happy to beat him into a pulp, but, she didn't want to act or look as a savage on a rampage.  
"I have stated my terms, first out, no killing blows." He nodded again, and Rei sighed agreeing to his terms.  
"Alright, stay here, I'll alert Ami to prep the medical wing." She ordered carefully. "Prepare your weapons, recheck your armor, I will not go soft."

First out was a very brutal way to fight. It was so brutal in fact, that none of others had actually used that particular combat style. Rei had been the only one, and it was purely because it was as she had told Minako before. Once a person reached a proper age, you couldn't hold back, parents didn't have the luxury of being soft, and as a result, first out was a common way of training. It stated that you could not kill, but, that any other blows were alright. The key behind first out was simple, just because you never intended to kill you opponent didn't mean it didn't happen by accident, and it was clear that both opponents knew that implication perfectly.

"We are going into a first out match." Rei spoke with an air of severity. "I want Ami's medical team ready on dispatch. This isn't going to be pretty."  
"Wait what?" Makoto looked up from place, her arm in a bandage and sling. "You can't be serious. No one with half a brain fights like that."  
"I've done it before, it's quite common on Mars." Rei sighed, mentally preparing herself. "Someone is going to end up hurt, badly."  
"Is it just me, or did you just sound worried?" Makoto had never heard that tone from Rei before a big fight.  
"It's like I told you before, we handle our emotions differently, but that doesn't mean they aren't there." Her answer was curt, to the point.  
"You could be killed!" Makoto shot back, now really worried. "You fought like crap all day today, and now this? You must be insane!"  
"I know better than you do the danger of this fight. That is why I'm going to do it, before one of you ends up dead." Rei answered with a knowing look. "Just tell Ami."

Rei left the side of the structure, going into the armory where Jadeite was preparing. Rei too decided it was time to recheck her gear. This battle couldn't be taken lightly. Looking at her side she saw Jadeite just as nervous as she was. Rei couldn't say why, but she had a very bad feeling, something big was going to go down…

"Makoto?" Minako asked, watching as Rei prepared. "What's first out?"

TBC~~~

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Well now, isn't this going to be fun?


	26. Chapter 26

A/N: Short, but highly intense. There is a reason that this has a drama setting, and this chapter is a very, very, good example of that. Minako get's a bit crass towards the end, and although I dislike use of such things constantly I thought it fit quite well. Please read and review.

Don't worry, I'm not going to turn this entire fiction into a lifetime drama on hells heals, but, I will say that it will start to get more serious now.

I do not own Sailor Moon

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Chapter 25: Battle.

"Makoto?" Minako hadn't gotten her answer and was now getting worried. "What's first out? Someone tell me something."

Jed looked at the short blond in front of him, allowing his gruff features to harden for a moment. "First out is a combat style that allows the warriors to go at each other in any way that won't directly kill them. However, in order for the match to end, normally, the person is downed, knocked out cold. It could kill them if they aren't careful, critical strikes are allowed as long as it won't make an almost instant fatality. It's dangerous for this to happen."

"Why not just go first blood. It's not nearly as dangerous." Minako cringed, she hated this idea already.  
"Knowing them, it wouldn't do much anyway." Usagi sighed out, she hated to see bloodshed. "Remember who it is we are talking about."  
"Yeah, first blood would just encourage them to make one very good, very damaging blow." Makoto paled. "That could be just as bad if not worse."  
"How could this be the better option?" Minako was starting to panic. "This is Rei we are talking about!"

Watching from the stands, none of the girls were ready to sit and watch such a fight. Yet, that what happened when Rei and Jadeite entered the ring, combat ready, armored to the teeth. Ami and Zoisite were the only two near the entrance, ready to move out to deal with the wounds both parties would no doubt sustain. Setsuna was sitting calmly, not saying a word despite the situation, however even fate denied her an answer for this outcome, and she sat just as clueless as the rest of them. Then it was clear talking was going on. The battle was about to start.

* * *

"First out?" Rei sighed. "That is still the agreement. No killing blows, although we both know well enough that one of us is pretty much as good as dead."  
"I don't intend to die." Jadeite spat. "I will grant your wish though, if you see it fit. I know bloodshed and war quite well."  
"You are the most ruthless of generals; however, you are not the strongest. You are not the leader and fail in knowing your place." Rei sighed at him.  
"I know my place quite well, but enough of this, are we going to settle this like men?" Of course only he would say it like that.

"No." Rei spoke with an air of severity. "We will handle this like the warriors that we are. I am a woman, you are a man, but, we are both warriors." Drawing one of her weapons, a sword to be precise she ordered him. "Come at me Jadeite, I will give you a powerful fight."

He did. Pulling out his sword the first clash of blades moved by quickly and without remorse. Rei parried the maneuvers allowing him to back her up, feeling as if he had control. She did not attack back, allowing herself to learn the feel of his strategy. More swipes, more clashes, one missing, the blades slipped, cutting into her knuckles. She winced, now her back at the wall, just where she wanted to be.

Her sword was discarded quickly while she performed a roundhouse kick, knocking him to the ground, flinging one of the daggers from her side at him, trying to slow him down. She got him in the shoulder, as she ran by, keeping her movement around the ring. As he stood with his sword at his side, his arm bleeding from the gash she had created she readied another dagger, her arm in a defensive position, she could not afford to get within his striking range without her sword.

He charged and so did she. Closing her eyes she braced, knowing he was going to cut into her. The sword lightly grazed at her side, trickles of wet sticky crimson falling from her body, stunning her for a moment. Jadeite was also stunned, having had his chest carved into by the short, but very sharp blade. Both of their battling leathers were tough, but, they couldn't stand up to the brutality of the fighting, and had they had been trying to kill each other, one, or both of them would have been dead in this instant alone.

Back in the stands things weren't any better. "She's such an idiot!" Minako was in tears seeing all of the blood. It didn't make it easier when another crash rang out, Rei's copper armlet cracking under the sure force of another blade strike. "He'll cut her arm off!" She turned to Jed, he only observed with a critical, but not concerned eye. "Stop her…she's getting hurt…your daughter could die…don't you even care?" It had started as a yell, but dwindled down into a barely there sob.

"Do not cry for a Martian protecting her family Minako. I would do the same as she is now if your mother is ever threatened." His powerful voice was one that left little room for debate. "She will be the victor, or she will die at his hand if he acts as such. However, any true Martian would rather die, than see the ones they love being hurt and endangered. She has honor, and I highly doubt she will be killed. She is too strong, to powerful, to lose her life in such a way."

"Yes! And I'd rather die too, than see her getting hurt! I'd rather it be me." The blond hated fighting, but, what she hated even more than the fight itself, was seeing others hurting, feeling as if it should be her. Minako would have gladly put herself in that ring, taken any more hits, just so Rei wasn't hurt anymore.

The ring was starting to become speckled with blood. Both fighters were tearing their own wounds open further with their ragged movements, it didn't help anything when even more skin was torn from almost critical hits and barely dogged, nearly fatal, psych-out maneuvers. Rei was down to her last dagger, her wound on her side was starting to tear open too far, and she was losing a lot of blood, her vision becoming blurry.

She had to finish this quickly for fear of causing her own demise. This was why the first out rule was dangerous. You never really caused another person's death, but, they could commit an effective suicide out of acting rashly, or, losing too much blood, ceasing to breath. The possibilities were endless, but Rei time was numbered, her abilities were becoming sluggish, and she needed to have done with this battle. She needed to get close to him, and so once again she charged, this time heading low wishing to deliver to him a final blow before he could strike her.

"Oh my god!" Minako shouted from the stands. "Rei, dear gods get up! GET UP!" Makoto held her in place, the struggling blond trying to get down to Rei. "Let go damn you! Let me go!" Falling over she kept crying, unknowing the final outcome as two stretchers went out to collect the fallen parties. "Get up…get up…" The girl could even see past the downfall of tears, only to keep crying, no one else moving stunned into silence.

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"We need to clear his airway, then do an intubation him." Zoisite ordered the first team. She was calm and collected, but also gravely serous, Jadeite couldn't breathe on his own, he was too critically injured. His chest wounds were impressive, but, the worst wound, the reason for the intubation was the slice Rei had inflicted, causing part of his trachea to be damaged. Once he had been stabilized he was carted off, in need to surgery to save him.

"Ami, how's Rei?" Zoisite called, bringing more supplies, noticing that Rei hadn't been moved yet.  
"She's awake and at the very least somewhat responsive if that tells you anything." Ami answered as she continued to prep the Martian to be removed.

Rei was awake, but she was out of it, there were people talking around her, giving orders and in the haze of her mind she could feel herself being lifted, and then moved quickly. The entire ordeal from falling onto the ground to being moved wasn't a very long time, although, for Rei it seemed like forever. She couldn't really see anything through blurry eyes, but she sure as hell felt the pin pricks of needles in her arm and the haze of something entering her body. Part of her wanted to gag, the other wasn't sure, she really didn't have control, and within seconds she was out cold.

"You need to calm down." Makoto was still dealing with an erratic blond waiting for someone to tell them exactly what was going on. From how it had looked, Rei had been hit by the sword, her back being torn open. What no one knew was how bad it really was, however there was one fear that still remained. "It could have hit her spine." Minako was still uncontrolled with her tears. Everyone knew the effects of a spinal injury; it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the basic implication of what would have happened if that had occurred. "Why'd you let her do it Usagi? You had the power to stop her, why'd you let her do it…"

The Moon princess sighed. "She's going to be alright Minako." The calmer blond spoke. She surely wanted to cry, she wanted to let loose everything she had kept pent up, but Minako was so erratic, and Makoto was lost in the flood of emotions, unsure how to react. Setsuna effectively numb, unsure what to do, not clear in what to say. Someone had to keep calm, and, it was Usagi's job to be the one with a clear head. "Rei's going to be alright."

"Why though. Why even-" Minako was cut off when Usagi shushed her  
"I did it because Rei wanted to do it. She is her own person, just as you are. I don't control her every move." Usagi sighed back some of her emotion, trying not to lose herself.

It was then, Setsuna spoke for the first time. "Not only that, but people don't die randomly. Fate, although it can make things look randomized, isn't as free formed as that. Lives aren't a trivial thing; fate can't waver when in regards to such things. It may be fluid, but even it has restrictions. If she lives or dies, it was her fate, and it is an answer we all need to accept."

Minako couldn't handle that response. She knew it was true, but, in her head she didn't think she could handle it. She marched over anger in her eyes. "Fuck fate!" She shouted, slapping Setsuna in an upset rage. "Rei's already suffered enough. We all have. I'm sick and tired of intended destiny, fate, and order by a higher power. All I ever wanted in my life was Rei, that's it. Nothing big, nothing grand, just Rei. If I can't have the one light in my life that makes me happy...then why in the hell should I care about fate?"

No one answered. No one had a good retort for that. Everyone standing around had something very important taken away from them, and now, Minako was facing a fear, one she never wanted to look in the eyes. It wouldn't be right to retort, and thus no one did, just looking on as Minako crumpled back down onto her knees fearing the answer that would eventually come.

TBC-

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Please leave a review.


	27. Chapter 27

A/N: Somewhat slow I think, but after the last two chapters something slightly calmer is needed. Please leave a review.

I do not own Sailor Moon

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Chapter 26: Call of Darkness.

Her body was pale and cold. The tape had been removed from her eyes, but they were still closed, unseeing. The respirator pumped air into her lungs at an even pace, the feeding tube providing the nutrition needed. A line leading between the valleys of her legs occasionally filled with yellow liquid, signaling her body releasing its waste. The coma had lasted for a few days now, but the news had been better than what had first been thought, and Minako was thankful for the small favors that she had been given. Rei was alive at the very least.

She wasn't paralyzed, at least not from the report Ami had given regarding the injuries. Rei had sustained major trauma, one of her ribs shattered from what was stated to be a high in pact and had punctured a lung. Her cuts were red, oozing constantly, and the stitches on her side weren't pretty. The sword that had cut into her had left her badly damaged, but, nothing that wouldn't heal. Now, it was all about getting Rei to wake up, the longer she stayed asleep, the larger the possibility of brain damage.

Idly, Minako moved Rei's legs in a walking motion, talking to her, trying to get her responsive. She hadn't slept well, had rarely left the bed side, unsure of what to think, or of what to feel with all that was going on around her. Sighing she looked up at the clock, hearing a wooden door open and shut, knowing Jadeite was in the next room, more or less also in the same condition.

~~~~~~Jadeite's Room~~~~

"She doesn't love you." A woman's voice called out, he had heard this echo for the past three days, yet he had no idea who this voice was. "She hates you, despises your very existence. A woman like her, a mere Martian of the White Moon would never understand you. She would never care about you." Every time it spoke he felt prickly, but, he couldn't move, and this voice didn't sound normal. It didn't even sound human. He wasn't sure about a lot of things, but he knew this woman wasn't a friend of his.

"I'll show you a place even better than Mars. You'll be loved for your strength, honored for your skill. You can guide the ranks, lead people to a victory unmatched. The White Moon would never do that. Will you be a lowly earthling your entire life? Will you allow yourself to be hurt, or even killed by a woman who detests you, even if she is your betrothed? I think it is a foul card, an ill timed play." Her words amused him, but he did not answer. He couldn't have, he didn't know how to speak. He wanted too, but didn't know how. Her voice was the only reality he knew, and she was starting to grow on him.

"You wouldn't be alone. There are women who are strong, who would love you, care for you, protect and do for only you." She spoke in a light and happier voice, but it still sounded dark, tainted. "Think on it. Muse deeply on it. When I leave you will be alone, that is what you will feel in that barbaric Martian's arms. When I come back, I wish for you to make a choice. I know you will not fail in making the correct choice."

The voice left, and he was alone again. Unseeing, hardly hearing, very lost and very alone, that was how he felt. That was how he made his decision. He never knew that he too was being watch and protected.

~~~~~~Back in Rei's room~~~~

Panic. That's what she started to feel. Something was crammed down her mouth and into someplace, another something invasive and uncomfortable was between her legs, and she felt sick as a splitting headache tore through her. She struggled within seconds of consciousness, not sure where she was, or what she was attached too. She remembered the fight with Jadeite and automatically her brain switched from panicked and into aggression, feeling the need to go on the defensive.

"Rei." Minako jumped at the sudden movement of the bed. "Rei, calm down…" She ordered quickly pushing the call button frantically. "It'll be ok, stop moving hun, stop, stop." Rei was thrashing around, trying and failing to make out what was going on. "REI! STOP!" Minako's screaming finally hit home and she paused, struggling and gagging, the tubes in her throat weren't a welcome feeling. Minako put her hands on either side of Rei's cheeks, forcing the girl to look at her. "Don't fight it." she whispered.

Finally another familiar face came into view. Ami sighing at the fact that Rei had torn the bed nearly apart, and had tipped two of the lesser machines over. After dealing with what could have probably been a dangerous situation later, she removed the breathing and eating tubes, causing Rei to cough and feel very sick too her stomach, almost throwing up through the process. From there Ami tried to establish Rei's current heath situation, but considering the fact that the Martian had already totaled two machines, she couldn't have been doing too badly.

"Get these things out of me!" She kept trying to yell her displeasure of dealing with tubes and other medical equipment attached on, or in, her body. The yelling caused more violent coughing from her injuries, and Ami partly wished she could tape Rei's mouth shut. "What in the good god is that!" Her yell hit a high squeaky sound causing yet more coughing. Whatever it was coming out of the tube Rei she couldn't really feel it, she was still too drugged to use common logic.

"Urine…" Ami deadpanned trying to maintain her temper. Rei never played nice when she felt threatened, and trying to control her was a bad idea.  
"Get that tube out before I rip it out myself!" Civility had been lost completely now that Rei figured out where that tube led. "I'm so not kidding."  
"Surely we can tell this, but I wouldn't think that to be a good idea." Ami sighed, this was why she preferred Martian treatments on Martians when possible.  
"Rei, just deal with it for now. Please." Minako was still trying to sooth the annoyed raven, failing obviously, but overjoyed that the girl had woken up.  
"This…thing…does NOT belong up THERE!" She growled out in distaste coughing extremely hard, actually producing vomit from her strain.

"You need to stop exerting yourself or god only knows what could happen." Ami spoke seriously. "If you want to put yourself back in the O.R., I could arrange that, but I'd much rather you not do anything so stupid." At least Rei was being hotheaded; it meant that she wasn't feeling too badly, although it was clear her overly aggravated nature wasn't due to having her normal pep. "Be good for now and I'll take that out later. Whatever you do, do not, I repeated do NOT for any reason, unhook yourself from those monitors or I'll have to kill you myself. Are we clear?"

"Just get me some food. Not any of the liquid crap either, I want some snake or something!" Rei ordered, highly aggravated, and even more annoyed at herself for actually listening to the voices of reason. Then she looked over at the blond who was now the only one in the room with her and realized that was exactly why she listened. "Oh…no-no." Rei looked on apprehensive. "No crying, no, no." She was begging.

That was a failed endeavor as Minako clung onto Rei, her still cool body and pale sickly arms slowly wrapped around the blond. Minako hadn't ever felt a more welcome and missed embrace. The water works commenced for the countless time, the only difference was Rei was awake for them, feeling the flood of on the middle of her itchy clothing. "Never do something so stupid again." Minako sobbed. "Never do you understand me!" She cried harder and Rei could only sigh. "You almost left me for good! Do you know how crushed I would have been? Never ever do that…idiot…never again."

"I'm right here…" Martians never had such emotional outbursts over death, or life for that matter. It was a natural flow, and something one understood at a young age. Natural selection, hunter and hunted, life, death, and everything in between, yet, here Minako was having an emotional breakdown to rival all break downs Rei had ever seen. "Stop." She spoke softly, a plea more than anything else. "I'm alright now, so it's ok to stop crying. It would make me much happier to see you smile than to see you cry."

Minako did smile, right before going into another set of tears, emotions all over the place. Happiness, merged with the feeling of relief, and the aftereffects of worry. Rei rolled her eyes. The days she had been out seemed only a mere few seconds, perhaps overnight if she stretched it, but not as long as it had been. Rei became compliant then, allowing the shower of tears to continue, holding Minako in her arms the entire time…

TBC~~~

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Well there you go. Please leave a review.


	28. Chapter 28

A/N: See bottom of page for the proper a/n. I have a few announcements once you finish the chapter.

I do not own Sailor Moon.

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Chapter 27: Eyes of Fate.

Are you worried?" Crimson eyes took in those of emerald. Ever since the kiss things had been obscure and barely there, it was hard to understand.

"I'm not worried." Makoto shook her head and laughed. "I'm not the one who hast to deal with the consequences." Then those green eyes sobered a bit. "But, I can't help thinking, why me? You could have kissed anyone to anger fate, right…so why me?"

"I saw something." Setsuna answered slowly. "That thing gave me hope, but it was, and still is, nothing more than a gamble with fate. It's so far from now that I can't say I know what it is that I'm doing. I just felt I had to do it, and, you'd be the best risk, but, it was also because…" Setsuna sighed; she wasn't sure how to say things. "I don't want to be alone anymore."

"You think you're alone now?" Makoto shrugged, not really caring. Her emotions had hardened her when it came to loneliness. She was an expert in that matter after all, sure Setsuna wasn't a slouch on such a topic, but she still had a mother at the very least. "You've still got your mother, and most of the adults treat you alright."

"It's not the same." Setsuna pointed over at Hotaru, proving the child to make a good example. "See her in the flowers? That was what I was like as a child. You guys grew up together in a big group, but I aged slowly and with many people. It's not in a mage's nature to get close enough with others to really trust them. When you guys are old, and die as well, I'll still be aging, most likely not aging a day in my looks. You may be one of the oldest in this generation of princesses, but I'm even older than Haruka and Michiru, and you aren't all that far behind them."

"How are they anyway? I haven't seen them in a while, talk about falling off the face of the galaxy." Makoto got a confused look on her face. "They're like what, twenties by now?"

"They aren't that old. Michiru and Haruka both only turned eighteen this year, your only two years behind them." Setsuna made a mental note of Makoto's weird way of seeing aging patterns, hoping it was merely fate adjusting an accident or something. "Anyway, I can't stay here all day. My mother has requested that I speak with her."

"Why do I have a feeling she's going to be really, really mad?" Makoto asked with a level of uneasiness.

"Mother doesn't get mad easily. She sees things before they happen, well normally. But I do agree that it likely has something to do with you and what we did." Setsuna sighed and she stood, ready to take her leave, shocked when a hand grabbed her.

Green eyes hesitated for a moment before saying her peace. "I…don't like to be alone either…" She left go of Setsuna's arm and also stood. They were the two tallest Senshi able to meet eye to eye. "If you ever are, come find me…ok?" She let go then, not awaiting an answer, not really needing one.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Time Gates~~~~~~

"We cannot interfere. It would not be right to do so. Slowly, surely, life will find its balance. When it does, fate will commence to bring the final end, but, surely you knew this." Trista sighed; her child was being quite the rebellious youth. Well, a youth in the eyes of other mages anyway. "Acting rashly will do you very little good."

"But the good it can do would be enough!" These girls were all being the overly emotional teens of their age. Setsuna didn't feel exempt from that. "All I want is some happiness. It's bad enough fate dangles half truth in front of me, or hides the answers that I have requested to know. I am a human being, I think I deserve a little better than being a slave towards what I cannot control. The others remain blissfully unaware, why can't I have that too? Why do I have to see both my dreams and such wretched horrible nightmares?"

"It is our task, our job. There isn't anything more than that to understand. The simple truth, although hard to swallow is simple for one reason. It cannot, and will not be changed." Then she placed forth the scene, showing the vision of what had been a reality. "Did she see?"

"Excuse me?" Setsuna was at a loss.  
"You kissed her. Although it is taboo to do such things you have crossed the line and you lived." Trista answered. "Did Makoto see?"  
"See what exactly? Visions, I'm sure she saw them, we all do." There were many things a person could see during any sort of intimate action with a mage.  
"No." Trista pinched the bridge of her nose, stressed. "Did she see the rift?"

Setsuna paled. "Not even we can see that. Why would she, a girl from Jupiter, be able to see what we cannot?" The rift was a legend, nothing more nothing less than an old wives tale, at least, that what it seemed. "You haven't ever seen it, nor have I, why would she." Somehow, Setsuna felt like some part of her training had just been omitted for reasons unknown.

"The time and space dimensional rift is only see able for those outside of fate's shackles. They cannot ask, cannot see a singular moment, the lines that fate has, become blurred. The only way we see this is when we use our power of a time stop, thus, allowing us to alter fate at a price. However, unable to understand our power, they cannot see any singular moment, thus they see the flow of time as the muddled river that it is, thus, the rift." Trista had only heard rumors of its existence as well, and, she was feeding off of basic, but not proven, knowledge.

Fate was a fluid thing. Setsuna knew fate worked like that of water without a direct path, but that it also had its own laws and rules. Fate was not completely free to do its own bidding. Some would say that fate also had a maker, and that maker also had a ruler, an unending cycle of preordained greatness. Setsuna didn't believe that to be so, however, she didn't have a better conclusion from which to draw. "If the rift was see able to outsiders, would Makoto be penalized?"

"I do not know." The older, far wiser mage had seen many things, but this had not been one of them. "However, the only conclusion I can figure out is that no, she will not. You are not dead, meaning your eyes concealed the gate, you did not show probabilities nor did you answer truths. If you had, fate surely would have killed you." The older woman paced, now confused. "Fate has permitted this…rendezvous…of yours. I can only imagine it has a plan for you; however that does little to ease my worry."

"What worry do you have?" They were mages, they knew all that could happen, and they knew fate had a direct collision course with disaster. Time had given them only a few years for happiness, but the cost was going to be great. "Hotaru will start to grow soon. I am going to need to train the girl of death and rebirth once again. This will be my final time, and thus, I will need for you to come with me."

"You think you're going to die?" Setsuna scoffed. A mage was a mage for one exact reason. They could never truly die. Death was impossible, you could mortally wound them, but, death was something no one could ever achieve. "What is this really about?"

"Our souls, it calls for us." Trista had acted foolishly in her younger years, years when Setsuna was still too young to fully understand her training. "Saturn is calling for us, and soon we will go to the call. That's the real reason we are forcing marriage on the girls. On the outside, it looks as if it is for politics, and, part of it is, however the real truth is none of us are long for this world. Saturn has been born, and after training her, she will never allow us to stay in the mortal realm."

"And the immortality of the Senshi will be passed on to the next generation. Is that right?" Setsuna may have been too young for training, but even viewing from the sidelines, she knew Saturn was a place no one should ever go. Her mother, and the others, had gone to Saturn in order to forsake themselves from Senshi immortality, and, quite a few had succeeded, but not in the ways they had intended.

"After they felt as if their goals had been met, they left, becoming a light of power, just as we all do. Soon we will be the same Setsuna. Those of us still left do not have much more to do, and, fate will be in your hands." Trista was speaking as if she was sad, her soul wanted badly to return back seeing those of a past she remembered well, a world so surreal.

"Why did they die?" Setsuna never really understood the real cause of death.

Trista looked on, and nodded. "Azar was bound too this world after a forced marriage left her with a child she didn't know of. That child was lost before its birth because Saturn consumed it, the baby didn't have immortality, and thus, it could no longer stay. Azar was bound to the unfinished task, and after the birth of Rei, her task of bearing a healthy child was achieved. However, Azar was ill, unbecoming of the Martian world Rei would be raised in, and after Rei was a few years old, Azar felt she had done all she could, leaving so that Rei would never feel as if her mother wasn't Martian greatness."

"What of Jupiter? They lost both of their rulers." Setsuna was taking in this information carefully. Surely she could have looked, but that would have been disrespectful for those already gone.

"Jupiter was of courage and trust. Saturn had frightening things, and, ironically, the Kings of the Moon, and Jupiter itself were of a Jovian bloodline. Things got hairy when we tried to leave and we were almost sucked into a place I am unsure of. They stayed behind, getting pulled in, and that's why they never came home, Makoto's mother was also pulled in, unable to escape." Trista knew the information would be important later, history always liked to repeat itself, albeit in different ways.

"And what of those still here? When will you go?" Setsuna was worried inwardly. She hadn't ever known that this was a possibility.

"The king of Venus departed a few short years after the twins were born, around the same time as Azar if you remember. He had done it out of love for his wife. The Queen of Venus had loved Jed from the beginning, I think, if you really use your brain and look back there was a sort on conspiracy between the four of them. The rest of us, well, that remains to be seen." Images ran through the time line showing possibilities.

Both mages were allowed to see these visions and Trista talked Setsuna through a few more likely situations. "The Queen of Venus will leave shortly. Her children have found love, and, that love has granted her wish. Jed, will likely go with her. It would not surprise me if they left on the same day, unannounced. Rei is a capable leader for her people; she has very little left to learn from him, he would have no reason to stay."

More images buzzed past then, and Trista sighed, for most of these people, it was subject to debate. "Well, I am not so sure of the others; it all has far too many factors. My leaving is most assured; I know how my life will end. Hotaru will do it for me."

"You think she is able to do so?" Setsuna didn't sense fear for her mother, and Trista seemed willing for death. "Why is it you seem so accepting of this?"

Trista did not hesitate in her explanation. "We cannot die as a mortal would Setsuna. If we birth a child, with any of our blood in them at all, they cannot die. We are immortal, and that was why I left foolishly to go to Saturn, thinking I could create my own demise. I can't, I know this now. Even without Senshi powers, you will never die Setsuna, not without Hotaru's help. She is born a child forsaken for most; however, she is our guiding light, the only one who can lay our souls to rest. No one else can, fate never would, and as a result, that child is our savior. She is the one who can end our eternal suffering."

Trista spoke calmly. Unwavering in what needed to be foretold she continued. This was her task after all, being a servant of fate came with times like this, and ironically, what should have been sad news filled her heart with joy. Trista was an old woman, and, she desperately wanted to just let go, but, being tied to fate, she was not allowed such a simple guilty pleasure. Mortals could gift themselves a suicide, Trista couldn't even do that.

"The mage that trains the girl will be the one that is gifted death and peace. The only other way we could die is if she ends life and existence as we know it, but, something very grave would need to occur for that to take place. You will accompany me when the time comes, you will need to learn how to train the child of death so that one day she too will gift you a release from the mortal realm. After that, I will have taught you all I can, and the rest you will learn through the years of life that only a mage can have."

"So that is why you have not harmed her." Setsuna nodded. "She will be the one to end your life…the answer for your fate."

"Yes…and after all of my years of seeing war, famine, death, and life first hand, I can say that the day I am called to become a light will be a fine day indeed." nothing else was spoken as Setsuna took in the words of her mother. She herself had also lived quite a long time and wondered if she too would be the same way, seeking a death that may never come.

TBC~~~~~

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Firstly, I'd like to think everyone who follows this fiction; I hadn't imagined it to be so very popular.

I have personally fallen in love with writing this fiction; however, when it had started I hadn't planned for it to become so big, figuring for it to have already ended about five chapters ago. Instead I found myself thinking, re-watching the series (both the dub and sub) and the more questions and voids I feel have been left unanswered, or simply didn't end in ways that I truly honestly wish they would have or logically thought they should have.

In saying this, when I started this fiction, I hadn't really been planning too much into it, but, now that I keep seeing areas I'd like to explore and develop more, I'm planning out how to best make this fiction work, without it becoming muddled. This is the first arc of what I have now planned out into a full three arc fan fiction. Why? Simple, because I just can't see myself being satisfied with simply Silver Millennium fan fiction. Thus it will be written as follows.

Arc One (This arc currently): Silver Millennium  
Arc Two: Present Day…likely someplace after Sailor Stars.  
Arc Three: Future, (a.k.a. Crystal Tokyo)

The reason I intend to do things this way is so that I can have a clear and concise fiction without too many random jumps. It'll surely make the fiction longer, but I also hope it won't look as spastic with the past/present jumps that we saw before. Now since I'm in the planning stages, let me know, would you guys like to see this fiction run for that long (because it would surely become a monster in length.) or would you rather me keep it as it is currently. I love feedback, so let me know!


	29. Chapter 29

A/N: Well now that Rei's awake we can continue our happy little story…for now. We have gotten a new sub for the remainder that my teacher will be out, as a result, I do not know how quickly these next few updates will be. It will all depend on the competence of this teacher.

This chapter is light, but that's because I personally don't want to turn this into a drama lama on speed…we'll have plenty of that later, trust me. In the meantime enjoy something a little more happy.

I do not own Sailor Moon.

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Chapter 28: Calm days.

About two months had passed since the sparring match had left both Rei and Jadeite in bad shape. Looking back on it now, it was an unpleasant memory, one that made them cringe. Jadeite had awoken a few days after Rei. His eyes held a level of coldness that the others had not seen before, but he kept saying he was fine. Tired, but fine. The bloodshed had caused a stir, and many feared that political unions should be put off for a while longer.

No one disagreed, especially after Trista advised such a thing. The adults were told to leave their children be, fate having already chosen how to deal with the situation. It was a questionable action, but, one Trista felt she had to allow. Fate would do as it pleased, and, she felt badly that the princesses would have to be forced by the will of their families. It simply wasn't a good idea, nor was it warranted anymore. Not after the meddling Setsuna had done anyway.

Trista had hoped she could alter fate, so that perhaps, the future would accept what no longer would be. However, thanks to a kiss, that entire hope had been dashed to pieces. Makoto wouldn't ever see Nephrite as a dating figure, not anymore. Even if they crossed paths in the future, it would be only on negative, or possibly neutral terms only, and that made Trista shutter.

Feeling the pull of the gates, she closed her eyes to see what exactly fate had displeasure about, only to fling her eyes open again. "Don't show me that!" She scowled not a fan of seeing such things either. "You're the one allowing it…I don't like it any more than you do." She really hadn't wanted to see that particular moment in time. "If you dislike her actions so much, why aren't you doing something about it?" She asked the gates again. "Sometimes I think you like to torment me…"

Her time spent at the gates were dwindling, however, she couldn't seem to pull herself from the happy, if not questionable things she was seeing. Rei and Minako were currently just that, Rei and Minako. Jed wasn't thrilled with the idea but he wasn't outright sickened by the idea either. Some morals were at odds however Usagi, Ikuko, and most of the others had promptly shut him up.

~~~ Planet of Mars~~~~

"Minako what in the name of Mars are you doing?" Forcefully Rei hit herself in the head. "I told you, you need to grill the snake." She was now poking at a waterlogged version of supper. "Is this even edible?"

"I don't know, but I think I'm afraid to find out." Jed gawked as he dragged a large lizard back to camp on a rope, it was still alive and kicking. "The poor, poor snake." Jed sighed. "You really need to learn how prepare food."

"You know mom never listens." Kadar spoke softly, almost feeling bad for the blond. "This is why I keep saying one of us needs to be in charge of dinner." Then he looked at the snake. "Hell hath no fury like Venusian cooked snake?"

"Indeed." Rei sighed. "I think I'll go fetch more cactus water…Kadar, please don't let her do anything rash with anymore food, I'd rather not pack up camp for a while if we can help it."

"I'll try." The boy nodded. This was his adoptive family, and although that particular thing wasn't uncommon, the fact that he was heir to the Martian throne clearly was. Jed wasn't exactly happy about it, but, he didn't make a retort about it either, hoping that Jadeite might one day find his place as king to bring forth a proper heir.

"I'll go help Rei." Jed growled out, not wanting to be near anymore of Minako's cooking. "Kadar, don't you dare let her touch that lizard." His voice was ruder sounding than he had meant it to be, but the boy smirked, getting the meaning. The elastic had been sitting for days, and as a result the steam and condensation had provided quite a lot of water. "I really would prefer you didn't allow the boy to use word like that." Martian's were never so informal with their parents.

"I have already spoken concern and thoroughly have had my foot shoved into my mouth. I hate to be the bringer of you likely saddened evening, but I will not birth Jadeite's child if I do not have too. Minako started up on an adoption tangent, and Kadar calling her as he does is the result you get. Besides, I'm not commenting on the fact you've disappeared six times in the last month, and don't think I don't know where you are." Rei cocked a look that was flicked off of her face as two strong fingers tapped her hard in the forehead.

"Watch your tongue. What I do is my business." He barked slightly indignant as he helped to carry some of the water back into camp.  
"Don't you mean who?" Rei spoke under her breath, even if she wouldn't say it to his face, she had a pretty good idea what he had been up to.  
"What was that?" He barely caught it, but he knew she was saying something about his romantic life.  
"Nothing, nothing." She shook her head, keeping quiet. "Let's just make sure Minako doesn't try to cook anything else. I want to eat tonight."

"At any rate, you do realize a lot of people are looking at you as if you've grown a second head." He just loved to point that out, then again, Jed was still a little uneasy about the fact that the kingdom he had help to build was now beginning to be run by a bunch of rebellious teenagers. "The adoption is one thing, but making him an heir? Are you insane? I swear Rei, ever since that duel you've been getting more and more impulsive."

"Blame Minako." Rei shrugged. "I may be the head of this family, but I've come to realize something."  
"Oh? And what is that exactly?" With an eyebrow raised he looked on confused.

"You said you were a king, but I bet mom had you nailed into a wall nine times out of ten. I'll bet anything that when she was alive, she was the real ruler of this planet because she talked you into to doing anything and everything, and you know what? I bet your foot was shoved into your mouth too. Mom isn't here, so who could it be this time, hmm? Because I know for a fact you wouldn't tolerate this under normal conditions." Impulsive was only the start of Rei's newly harnessed spitfire attitude.

"Unless you want to eat that water pail I would highly recommend you shut your mouth." He rolled his eyes. Why, oh why, was she starting to talk back like Azar used to do. On top if that, what had that blond done to his respectful, dutiful, girl of protection. It was one thing to get into verbal warfare with Jadeite, but now it was even more heated. Rei was changing, slowly and surely. All of the girls were, and that was something that all of parents feared most. Only Trista and Setsuna knew the real trigger of the change and clearly they weren't going to speak on it.

"Umm…Father…" Rei stopped her walking midway. "Where exactly is our dinner?"  
"It was right over…alright, where the hell's the food?" He looked around when quickly Kadar came running.  
"They're at it again!" He freaked. "They took it to the oasis!"  
"They?" Rei and Jed looked confused as a sort of realization hit and they went running towards the water source.

The three Martians had only just arrived to see their catch swimming off, two blonds smiling at the fact that the felt that had done a good deed. Rei and Jed were incredulous, and Kadar was trying his best not to laugh.

"That was our dinner Mina!" Jed bellowed with his hands atop his head in utter distress addressing the elder blond.  
"Minako…it's a good thing I love you so very much…" Rei growled through gritted teeth.

~~~~~~Time gates~~~

Love, Rei was starting to get the concept. All of the girls were indeed changing in more ways than one. Trista smiled then. The visions were at least normal. The fact that the entire universe hadn't imploded was a very good thing indeed. Still, Trista felt a little sorry for the fact that fate would be a long road. She shivered again, fate making sure to tell Trista that it was displeased again at something, but this time she refused to close her eyes.

"If you want to keep getting annoyed fine, leave me out of it!" She placed a hand on her forehead, willing away what she knew would be another headache. Fate didn't listen, again making her shiver. "Alright, alright! Don't get your lines in a twist." Walking through the nearest aggravation in the timeline she stopped short of a door, beating loudly on it. "You girls stop that before I deadly scream this door down!" Trista bellowed.

Makoto looked at the door, pulling the sheet up and around her exposed torso while Setsuna started smirking. "I thought you said she never gets mad?" Makoto whispered heatedly.

"Normally, she doesn't." Setsuna laughed quietly. "Fate isn't exactly thrilled either though. I think we just confused it or something."  
"Well great, let's see how badly we can screw it up." Makoto ever the blunt one wasn't even thinking on the innuendo that she caused.  
"Then if fate doesn't kill us, she most certainly will." Setsuna whispered.  
"Want to see how far we can go without seeing powers fly?" Makoto had a level of excitement that she wouldn't normally exhibit, but she did like adventure.

Fate made Trista's stomach do turns at its large amount of fury. "I give up!" She waved her hands in frustration; these kids were worse that fate when they decided to do something. Stomping back into the time stream and back to the gates she sat and scowled. Fate was angry, and she just knew it was going to be a very long night. The real reality was one night was just a drop in the bucket compaired to the storm brewing.

The girls, all of them, had reached for something that they should had left well enough alone, all Trista could do was sit and wait, those girls were going to see the ramification of actions, fate, would be sure of that.

TBC~~~~

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Well the girls have now truly aggravated fate, lets see what trouble this brings them hmm? I'll get the next chapter up once I have a chance to type it. since we were actually learning slightly new content, I was unable to do this in class, hence the lateness on the update. It may be like this for while, but don't worry, I haven't left this to be alone and forgotten...


	30. Chapter 30

A/N: so yeah, I was slacking off actually studying these past few days since we got a new sub! Yay! So yeah, updates may slow a bit, but we knew that was going to happen sooner or later right? Anyway…next chapter.

I do not own Sailor Moon.

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Chapter 29: A Mind's Deception.

"She hates you." The voice called out. "She will kill you." visions came forth, blurry, angry, and vivid in his likely death. "She will not allow you, a mere general to live among her people." More visions, more hate filled this man's mind. "Mamoru, the man you protect, he too will betray you. He will hate you for what you've become. He will cast you into hell by his own hands. If you are not killed by the Martian, you will surely be murdered by him."

"I WILL NOT!" Jadeite bolted right out of bed, holding his head in pain. A cold sweat covered his body, his breathing ragged. He had not slept well ever since he had woken up from the coma. He had made a full recovery, but the voice would not leave him, each night, his visions got even worse. "Go away, leave me alone…just leave me alone." He crumpled himself into a ball, his pain too much; he collapsed into the sand, barely holding onto the bed sheet. "Just go away." He whispered.

"I don't think that's a good idea." Rei sighed. She had come back to the Moon only recently, a request from Usagi. Rei wasn't fond of Jadeite, but, she tolerated him still, if only to appease her long time friend. "Get up. It's time to go to sparing practice." She pulled some of her prized weaponry from the wall, things she needed more improvement in. "You awake there?" She asked, gently kicking him with her foot. "Hello?"

He didn't move. Only shivering, only shaking. The look in his eyes, it wasn't natural, it wasn't normal. Full of fear, endangered by someone, or something. Rei moved around the room, unable to sense anything out of the ordinary. She knew something was up; a person didn't just act so unresponsive unless they had been tampered with. "Jadeite, get up if you can hear me." She could feel a pull, she hadn't any idea why, but she could feel unease. She knew something was with them, but she didn't know who, or where.

"You better be thankful later idiot." Rei sighed. She hated helping him, but she hadn't any other choice. Pulling him upright, she pulled his cold, sweat soaked body out into the main palace corridor and into the wing of mercury, tossing his body onto an exam table, almost allowing it to fall off the other side. "Ami, get in here!" Rei all but bellowed, now was not the time for games.

"What's going on?" Rei's yelling had alerted not only Ami, but half of the wing. None of them fully understood why a Martian would waltz in and toss a body in front of them. "Rei, what's wrong with him?" Zoisite asked again. She wasn't sure why, but it seemed odd for Rei to help anyone out whom she considered an enemy, and Jadeite wasn't exactly a friend.

"If I knew I wouldn't be here now would I." Rei still held a grudge from the sparring accident and this was the last place she wanted to be. "I came in my quarters and he was like this, don't look at me like I'm his keeper." Rei's eyes bore into him before curtly leaving the area, dragging Ami by the shirt collar.

"Rei, I need to go back in there." Calm, cool, and collected, just like always.  
"Not right now you don't." The reply was lowly growled, highly agitated. "I want every Senshi available to be at Usagi's side, no questions just do it."  
"Is there an attack?" Leave it to Ami to view things in a manner that would warrant a full lock down using all castle guards and personnel.

"I don't know. Round up the others, I have something to check into. If I don't come back, do not go into my quarters. Stay out of it if you value your life." Rei sighed looking at the fallen man, the others around him. "Before you leave, give this to Zoisite." She handed Ami a small berry, one of many Martian remedies no doubt. "If Jadeite was attacked by a premonition, this will be the best you can do." Walking away, she turned to warn one last time. "Go to Usagi quickly; protect her with your life, just as any proud warrior would."

She stalked back into her quarters, a sickening feeling in the air. Rei pulled forth her knife, she knew better than to play these idle games. Something, whoever, or better put, whatever it was, could definitely be called malevolent. "Alright, where are you." she spoke out into the air. "I know you're here, so where are you, make your presence known in a physical form." Her words were even, but it was clear she had made it an order. Just as quickly as the presence was there it was gone, not a trace left of it.

"And you say this voice called to you many times in your sleep." Kunzite didn't like where the conversation was headed. "Are you sure it wasn't the med's, or perhaps the blow to the head? You got your butt kicked pretty good out there you know." There were some people that could manipulate people and their inward psyche. It wasn't uncommon at all; in fact, one could say it was almost all too common in some places.

"No, it wasn't human. Whoever it was, she wasn't any sort of being we've come into contact with. I hadn't crossed such a voice before in my life. It was soothing, but very dark, she had a plan, I can tell you that much." Jadeite held his head, having just woken up a few hours back, he wasn't fully recovered.

"She's a threat then?" Kunzite wasn't sure, but something just didn't add up. "Rei hadn't reported such odd behavior, right?" He addressed Zoisite.  
"Rei didn't state that it was a problem, but she sure did come in here spooked earlier. Haven't seen her since." She answered back with a shrug.  
"It just doesn't seem logical. You'd think we would have caught something if it was an outside enemy." Kunzite sighed.  
"Not necessarily." Zoisite was quick with more information. "Outside sources don't have any bearing on the scanners if they're a dead thing like he claims."  
"Then what good are the scanners if they don't scan dimwit?" Kunzite was losing his cool rather quickly.

"If I may," a tall man with curly brown hair stood in his training uniform, sweat glistened on his body, having not had a shower due to the state of utter panic. "I think we are blowing everything out of proportion. Are you sure this was a premonition at all and not just a really screwed up dream? I mean right now we have the entire Moon under heavy surveillance, but nothing seems to show it, the patterns are weird too, I mean why go after Jadeite of all people? Why not a person with power behind them? No, I think there is another motive here, and power is not it."

"What basis do you have to state these claims?" Kunzite was pretty much the strongest general. He was the strongest because he didn't take kindly to idle threats, and made such a knowledge known. "One of our own has been attacked, it's time we knuckle down and find who's responsible."

"Great idea in theory." Nephrite sighed as he sat down on one of the medical benches. "But realize this; we aren't in any position to get demanding with the surrounding planets and star systems were life could be present. We'd have to play our cards right, and we don't even have a hand to play until we find out what's going on. Our best bet is to sit and wait it out."

"Well isn't that just a bitch." Jadeite groaned out. "I can take much more of that thing. It's really starting to unnerve me. I mean would you guys want a thing like that in your head?"

"No, but I agree with Nephrite none the less." Zoisite sighed, feeling lost for words. "We don't have a logical move."

"That is not entirely the case." Rei walked in, a deep severity in her eyes. "The entity was indeed out of this realm. It was not alive, that much I can assure, however, there was something about it. The voice was a woman was it not?" She turned to Jadeite who nodded, unsure why Rei looked so pale. "I don't know why it would come here, and haunt you, of all people, however I shall be forthright. Until this, thing, whatever it may be passes by, I want no one traveling, bedding, and even bathing alone. Both Usagi and Mamoru need constant protection; we can't trust that they, or one of us, would be next."

Rei had brought long sticks with her, and metal that had been cut into jagged arrows, going to work equipping herself. "Mercury's science is not going to help anyone, this isn't an illness, nor has Jadeite been brainwashed, that's not how these spirits work."

"Alright, you seem to know what it is directly that we happen to be dealing with." Kunzite sighed, walking towards Rei, removing her object of interest from her hands. "Out with it. What are we facing here?"

"If I knew that I'd be taking it down, now wouldn't I?" Rei shot back, pulling her arrow back to continued adding the fletchings. "In any case, I'm not fully sure, but I will say that Mars and our people have to deal with a particular level of unease as it were. Sometimes these rouge spirits come along, causing malice for things left unfinished. They are no more than passersby if you will allow such a term. They are nothing more, nothing less. They go away sooner or later, well if they see nothing of interest anyway."

"Yeah than why does it keep trying to contact me? Are you sure this thing really is dead and not some sort of enemy?" Jadeite asked in a slight worry. The woman's voice had unnerved him highly, and he wanted it to stop as soon as humanly possible.

"Trust me; it is not a living being. You have nothing to fear. The dead cannot harm the living unless you allow them to do so. Stories of walking dead and things of the like are merely stories to frighten children. Yes, the dead exist, but so do the living, and one cannot overtly affect the other. Yes we cross paths, but that is all we do. This thing bugs you because you are, as stated, an item of interest. Leave it be and sooner or later it will leave you alone as well. Continue to be its plaything, and it shall not leave you." Rei answered. "I am off to see the princess, Kunzite, please accompany me."

The man did as Rei requested and they made their way down the halls, however something was nagging at the back of his head. It just didn't add up and he knew Rei held the missing piece. "Tell me something." He's voice was casual despite the topic. "If you say that this dead thing can't hurt us, then why are you acting so freaked out? You aren't normally so formal with your actions. Something fishy is going on, and I'd like to know what it is."

"If that is your wish." Rei paused in the hallway. "You'll know soon enough, we are not going to speak with Usagi. I need to speak with you, alone." Rei turned back, walking down the hall leading Kunzite to her quarters where Jadeite had been found earlier advising Kunzite to sit. "The reason for formalities, that was your first question, is that right?" When she received a questioning nod, she smiled. "That's easy, I am a Martian and in times of distress I must fall back on the training I've received." Then she sat back and sighed. "The other thing, well that's easy too. I said the dead thing can't hurt us."

"Yes, you did say something about that. So tell me, what's got you all huffy, I know you better than that. You don't act like this under normal situations. Now, do you care to explain?" He too sat back in the chair he occupied.

"I said the dead thing can't. I didn't say a thing about other living beings." Rei fingered her dagger dangerously, as if to prove a point, it was the same one she had almost killed Jadeite with and she tossed it into the sand by her chair carelessly. "Understand this. He is having verbal contact with something that cannot hurt us. However, he, being a living creature, with a beating heart, can very easily become dangerous. Power hungry, greedy people, are only so because they have the drive to be that way. People who murder carelessly, they have an apparently just cause to be doing so."

"Just what are you pointing at Martian?" Kunzite liked things spelled out, clear as crystal, without room for debate, however, he failed to notice that Rei had already spelled it out. Perfectly comprehensible for those who knew her way of life.

Rei scoffed, leaning so that she rested on her knees, slouched, pulling forth another two daggers from her legs that she also tossed across the room, removing herself of any hidden weaponry. She wanted to prove that she was not the target to get angry with, and she made herself open as the last thing she tossed him was a small short sword, rendering herself completely unarmed.

"Now shut up and listen you fool. Jadeite is being contacted by something that can affect him, and, if it does, he in turn, can affect us. It is life's cycle, and, it is why we must feel as if he is a threat. Balance has been broken and we are now at risk." Her words were spat, highly agitated, and very defensive. "I am acting as a martian would under these conditions. No one is to be left alone."

TBC~~~~

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Oh, well isn't that a nice cliffy… I hate cliffies too, so I'll be sure to update when I get the chance… Please leave a review.


	31. Chapter 31

A/N: Hey guys sorry for the late update. Between birthday parties galore and a good friend of ours back to visit from the Navy, I haven't had much time to work on fan fiction. Add in class and it made things even more insane as far as time goes. My one friend is currently testing my ability not to hit him since he is actually poking at me trying to get me to go to lunch as I type this…

Anyway, here is the next chapter of prices. Please forgive the tardiness of the chapter.

I do not own Sailor Moon.

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Chapter 30: Nighttime fears.

"What can we expect?" Kunzite asked Rei gravely. She seemed to know quite a lot due to the fact's of her people. "You think it'll all blow over easily enough, or are we in for the long haul here?"

"I'm not sure." She shrugged. "Different people react differently. In the worst cases, sometimes people go mad, but that is pretty rare." Leaning back in her seat she spoke of a more common situation. "Some people try to fight the apparitions, failing, obviously. The fact is, the more power you give the spirits, that is to say, the more they think they can control you, the less likely they are to leave you alone. To react at all isn't necessarily a good thing."

"So, say he does try to fight it away from him." Kunzite was known for his powerful tactics and Rei held a respect for this man purely because he led armies well. He was a general who had power but didn't flaunt it. He knew of weakness and that sometimes things didn't go as planned. "Who do you think could be in danger besides himself?"

"Depends really." Rei didn't let her voice betray her, however even she was fearful of such an occurrence. "Apparitions are dangerous for one primary reason. They seek out a living being who suffers a similar hardship. In a way you could say that they wish to live vicariously through the living being. Hence, what they wish would have happened they try to act out through the other life form. Jadeite is an interest because of some similarity. If he fights the apparition, it will know it has contacted him successfully. Since living beings rarely have direct dealing with the dead, you can be assured that it won't leave him alone if that is the case."

"Jadeite is a strong man, I doubt he'd fall victim to such a horrendous idea." The mere suggestion was a stab in the dark at best, yet it seemed to concern Rei highly. "You think he will, and I can see you have a reason to point him out as a direct danger to everyone else. What I don't get is the why of it." Re was careful with her wording and that tested Kunzite, his ability not to yell even stunned himself.

"Jadeite is indeed a powerful opponent, however he lacks skill." Rei's lavender eyes held a level of wisdom expected of a Martian. Her voice never betrayed her. "People from Mars are known for having power in battle that is rarely outmatched; however, that was why he was going to be my betrothed. He can fight, he seeks strength."

"I don't think that is a bad thing." The man before Rei scoffed, clearly missing the intended message. "I think it is a good thing he intends to better himself, after all doesn't everyone seek to be better than what they are, at least a little bit?" Further proving his point he directly pointed his insinuation at Rei. "Don't you constantly work to make yourself a proper Martian ruler and a better lover to Minako?"

"Yes." Rei had no issues admitting it. "What you need to keep in mind is that those types of goals are very easy things to manipulate. Physical power is only one thing a good Martian has. There are other, arguably more important skills one must also hone to perfection. One of these skills is to know your place within the world and the balance you bring to it. Every living being has a limit, and when you reach yours, you must accept that it is your place and you belong solely there and nowhere else. The trial is defining exactly where that is and where your fate should lead."

"How do you suggest we deal with it then? We can't imprison him, and we can't let him run loose either." This was a rather thorny situation. They would need to be careful and maintain a strict guard if what Rei spoke of would come true. "Is there any way Mars would look after him, that does seem a proper place to keep him at bay until this…thing, passes over."

"You mean if it passes over." Rei clarified. "And no, I do not agree with sending him to Mars. That would solve very little. We can keep him distracted here. Do not leave him alone with Usagi or Mamoru and instead give him odd jobs. I'm sure there are a lot of things that we could have him do that would keep him busy. We need to keep up the normality, any changes in the way we treat him would just provide more fodder for that odd apparition to use against us."

"Fine with me." Kunzite nodded, taking his leave.

* * *

That plan had been put into action exactly three days ago and the apparition was still at large. On occasion one of the others would encounter an unwanted feeling in the halls but rarely felt anything more than that. Jadeite continued to verbally make it known how much he hated the woman's voice and Rei was constantly at odds with the man before her. She may not have been fond of him, but she didn't want him to suffer either. Often she'd spend time with him, trying to ward off the phantom that plagued his dreams.

"I can't believe you've allowed this." Minako's voice was quiet as she sat in the sands within the Martian wing. This was becoming a nightly occurrence but Minako couldn't say she minded. "Kunzite is still rather confused about this entire thing too." She snuggled onto Rei, knowing that the wall and sand would be the makeshift bed yet again.

"What entire thing?" Rei's voice was also a whisper.  
"This." Minako said, pointing to the fact that Jadeite was not only in the Martian wing, but that Rei was actually protecting him.  
"I can lift you into the hammock if this get's uncomfortable." Rei nodded, but didn't acknowledge the assigned task that everyone mistook for kindness.  
"No, it's alright I'd rather stay here." Minako looked on at the poor man that Rei seemed to look after every night. "Is it painful?"

"It can be, but for him I'd doubt it." Rei took off the cool cloth, rinsing it and placing it back onto Jadeite's head. "I can't say I agree with you being in here with him though. Sleep is dangerous, he has no real control. That's why I'm in here to contain him if I need too." Rei looked down, noting blue eyes glisten in confusion, the dark room illuminated by only the flicker of two torches. "I will permit you to sleep with Kunzite within the Venusian quarters, he has earned my trust. He would not touch you."

"I'd rather stay here." Minako has a level of firmness to her voice. "I just want to be here Rei." The room was gaining heat from the torch, and Minako could only watch as the wick made of cloth and oil burned continuously, the crackle of flames making the noise that boomed in the otherwise near silent room. The sounds of sand and breath only added to the quiet sonata.

"You will watch the form of a dangerous man all night Minako?" Rei's eyes closed, a light scent wafting in the air. Minako had been sipping on tea beforehand. That thought comforted Rei, Minako must have been with Usagi, or another high ranking official beforehand. "I doubt that would be a very favorable thing to do. You need rest."

"And so do you." The argument was ill placed and both of them knew it. "I refuse to leave your side. I don't want to be without you. This entire thing has me spooked. I've never seen or heard the woman but I feel like I'm in a haunted house." Rei didn't make a move and Minako couldn't read into anything, that was a very rare situation. Rei was always readable, but no emotion could be placed. "Aren't you worried?"

"Petrified." Rei's answer was only one word, but it spoke the volume that had been intended. Both girls were silent a moment longer before Rei's hands moved over, picking Minako up, and pulling the blond into her lap. Rei's eyes weren't pools of information like usual and Minako felt lost within the gaze she normally knew so well. When Rei spoke again, it sent shivers down Minako's back in the worst way possible. "I could be next you know. Anyone could be next, and I refuse to allow it to happen, but if it does I can't…" Rei shook her head, not wanting to follow that train of thought.

Minako sighed; Rei would always be like this wouldn't she? "You can't be held responsible for the actions you take." The answer had been obvious and the severity of the reality made Rei freeze, not realizing Minako would be able to finish that sentence so easily. "He can't either, can he?"

Rei shook her head. "In sleep he is most venerable, but even while awake he is not completely safe. I feel her presence even now, and I do not like where this will head. She's calling to us, and I could slip into her grasp if I allowed her to do so." Jadeite shifted, looking stressed within sleep and Minako realized that this apparition wasn't going to be leaving any time soon. "You could too, if she saw you as a possible target. No one is safe from her, or him."

"You're safe." Minako nodded.  
"Ami I really?" It seemed an answer Rei couldn't be sure of.  
"You will be." Minako answered as one of the torches flickered out. "I promise."

"That may not be true." Rei bit out, trying not to sound hurt. "Life is a strange thing; we Martians fear night for one simple thing. Our sins can haunt us. Our deepest, darkest wishes can come true, and these things, sometimes they aren't a positive thing Minako." Rei pointed to the last burning torch, the wicks doing very little to calm her already frayed nerves. "When that goes it, it'll be dark, just like the soul of very living being. I know you won't understand, but a soul is a very dark, tainted place, and within that dark depth a monster hides within all of us."

Minako didn't say anything, watching as the flames died into embers that finally went out, the dark room offering no solace. Rei shivered then, something rare for her to do, and Minako frowned. "Listen, it may not be forever, but it is for now." Minako allowed Rei her weakness, it was odd but it was there. She brought Rei's lips to her own, there were other things Rei could be focused on and fear shouldn't have been one of them. Darkness didn't scare Rei when she was out on Mars, but the walls of the castle were bricks, a city that Rei would forever hate, forever fear because of the permanence it seemed to promise.

When Minako pulled away from the kiss she looked into the eyes she knew were there even if she couldn't see them clearly. "You're safe. For now."

Permanence wasn't a thing Rei knew to be a reality, nothing lasted forever, and, the promise of such things only guaranteed failure. That much was evident.

TBC~~~

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I know this chapter was a long time coming. Sorry again on how long it took, things should cool down once my friends stop being spastic with their need to drag me every place on earth. Please leave a review.


	32. Chapter 32

A/N: So yeah, this poor fiction has been left all alone for far too long. My poor little fiction…How I've neglected it badly..So here's a new chapter! Please read and review.

I do not own Sailor Moon.

I merely love the great series and hope to fill the little void of things left slightly undone.

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Chapter 31: Mentality Mind Warp.

Jadeite seemed different lately, his request to go to earth left many in question, however Mamoru, despite the situation, allowed him to go. It wasn't as if earth was in peril at the moment, and the peaceful calm that enveloped Jadeite's home environment would do him some good, or so Mamoru hoped dearly. Even so, the spirit had not left the castle. In fact, that was likely the most disturbing problem. Jadeite was being left alone now that he was free from the vicinity, and that left a bitter taste in Rei's mouth.

Something clearly didn't add up. "If Jadeite had been the only target then that…thing, for lack of a better term, would have followed him." That hadn't been the only concern. Rei was currently in deliberations with her fellow Senshi regarding this issue. "On top of that, you tell me there's another case, so that mean this wasn't just a fluke. Are you she isn't just ill or something?" The news from Earth had been rather troubling.

"She fell into a deep sleep exactly twenty hours ago. Jadeite himself reported the incident." Mamoru answered somberly.  
"It seems as if a select group is being gathered, but it just doesn't make sense." Kunzite was sifting through documents trying to fish out key information.  
"Are you completely sure it isn't this woman who's the cause of everything?" Makoto's question left a stir in the room as eyes turned to Mamoru.  
"Beryl isn't the type to defy Earth so willingly. She's been loyal and I don't see her as a plausible threat." He was the prince would be king for a reason.

"Correction, now you almost have too." Rei had to warn him to be careful. "Didn't was when she was awake and away from anything that could manipulate her. This was when she was still a rational human being. If she wakes up, she may not be. In light of everything that has occurred here I don't advise you place full trust in anybody who has fallen into such a sleep." Rei looked to Zoisite who had bristled out or concern. "How is the condition of Nephrite?"

"More or less the same." The battery of tests hadn't shown any signs of a good or bad nature and that left Zoisite drained emotionally. "He's stable, however, unlike the incident with Jadeite, he can self sustain his body. Beryl apparently is in the same situation. It's not something I understand. Earth hasn't ever seen anything like this and many people are worried it is an illness."

"No, this is not an illness." Rei stood, walking over to the document that had been in Kunzite's hand and glanced at it.  
"Are we positive this is not someone harvesting us for energy to feed on?" That came from Kunzite as he continued to sift through treaties.  
"No, the activity doesn't match that." Ami answered into the banter. "Out computer would pick up the energy or aura readings."  
"The gates will not show me any new answers, so I don't have any guidance to provide." It was a lie. "It will not show me what I asked." Setsuna stated.  
"If even you can't get information, we are so screwed." Makoto gawked out receiving a few glares from others.

Usagi picked up on Setsuna's meaning though. The mage knew something and wasn't liberty to speak upon it. The gates hadn't given her new answers, but that didn't mean it hadn't shown her what was already there in the first place. To understand Setsuna you had to understand her cryptic wording and that was one thing Usagi had learned well over the years. She spoke everything you needed to know if you were willing to decode things yourself. "How about what you did not ask. Has it given you answers to questions left unspoken?"

"Indeed it has." Setsuna nodded. "However, in accordance to my servitude, fate must come before all else. I feel conflicted to speak upon such matters since I am unsure of the repercussions of actions." Kneeling to Usagi she gave a full report on matters she could freely speak on. "I am sorry to state that as of right now fate has aligned two completely pathways. How you act out now will place fate along one of these two lines. I'd advise you act and say as you normally would since unfortunately, fearing the unknown won't do you any good."

"I understand." Usagi spoke gravely, unsure of how best to convey her thoughts on the matter. "As of right now our parents are also holding a separate court. I have a feeling that they are speaking upon the same things, however, as you know, we are the ones who are to oversee out planets. I'd advise we do all we can to assure those of earth that this is not an illness and that hopefully it will pass soon. I do not like to cover things up, however, politics being as they are, we cannot let wide spread panic occur."

"We don't have any real answers for the public." Minako smiled softly, taking hold of Usagi's hand. "I know you feel badly about handing out false or covered up information but it can't be helped sometimes." Then she looked to Rei. "What's the best thing we can do right now? Is there anything we should be saying or courses of action we should be taking on Earth at this time?" When all Rei did was start rubbing one of her temples, Minako felt at a loss.

"This thing isn't alive. It can come and go as it pleases, as long as this Beryl chick remains out cold there isn't much we can do." Rei was exasperated.  
"What about our current situation with Nephrite?" Kunzite saw this as a personal attack and he was ready for blood now.  
"We can't do anything about him; we need a method of prevention." Rei wasn't sure how best to deal with this. People were seemingly dropping like flies.  
"So that nobody else falls prey to this…" Makoto understood the implication perfectly. "I just wish we saw a pattern."  
"The only real pattern we have is that everyone so far is high ranking officials from Earth, however that does little good for us." Ami explained carefully.

"True. We have no known motive, no real reason for any of this to be happening. If we did than perhaps, just maybe if we were lucky, we could figure out the cause of all of this." Rei's head was pounding. Sleepless nights gave way into troubled mornings and stressful afternoons that eventually gifted yet more sleepless nights. It was an endless cycle. "We have no reason to do anything yet. We are stuck in a corner we can't back out of. I agree with what Mamoru said earlier though. Earth isn't the intended target."

"So what do we do now?" Kunzite bit out.  
"We sit tight for now." Rei answered softly. "It's the only thing we can do right now."  
"Well isn't that just lovely…" Mamoru grimaced as Usagi rubbed his shoulders. "I should return to earth, see if I can't sort this out."  
"I agree. I should go too." The tall general would not be left behind. "Zoisite and I will accompany you" Kunzite's tone left no room for debate.  
"I don't think that's a very wise idea." Minako shot in slightly worried. "Look at Jadeite and Nephrite. You shouldn't go back."

"What's after us will come no matter if we stay or if we leave." Kunzite retorted logically. "It's bad enough that Jadeite is pretty much out of it, if Nephrite wakes up the same way, then there's no question Earth would be a safer option. We simply can't allow anyone to come to harm, least of all Princess Usagi and Mamoru. You have your duties and we have ours. Do not interfere with our obligations with Earth." With that he stormed out, his cape wafting from his speed. Zoisite chased after him. It was not a good idea to let that man fume in anger alone.

"Earth will need me. Something is amiss and I must find out what it is." Mamoru addressed Usagi, his eyes flickering in worry. "Your Senshi will do well to protect you." Then he turned to address everyone his word effective law. "Protect Usagi while I'm out. Let no harm come to her, or I will harm you myself. We will meet again shortly. After I have figured out some new information." The table adjourned with a full agreement about the meeting taking place as quickly as possible. The nearest shuttle bound for Earth would be carrying Mamoru, Kunzite, Zoisite, and the currently comatose Nephrite at break neck speeds. Time was of the essence and it was not on their side.

The castle was filled with a frozen silence as each Senshi did what they could. Rei read her fire for hours, coming up with nothing, all of her power spent in vain. Minako busied herself with Usagi, keeping careful watch and discussing evacuation procedures among other things. Ami found herself sitting at her computer studying log files and transmission data as far back as she could trace in relation to the incidents. Makoto stayed by Rei's side preparing every weapon possible in case of an emergency. Setsuna kept quiet. That was her job, as much as she hated it to be so.

The night wore on as people grew tired. Setsuna was the night watch, telling the others to go to bed, and they willingly agreed. When she knew she was alone she pulled forth a small capsule, inside of it, she placed a letter. Opening a subspace pocket, she tossed the letter, watching it vanish. She hated this, inwardly feeling like a traitor to both fate and life. She was torn, but did her task; the package was sent years into the future, a plain that would only be attainable if all went according to the plan fate had.

Dearly she hopped it would, but that didn't stop her from hating herself for the moment. Fate was a sick cruel joke sometimes, and now, was one of the times that Setsuna was forced to play the bad cop. All she could do was continue to listen to the call of fate and do its bidding without failure. It simply wasn't an option, and even she knew it would have been unforgivable to defy that particular action. Neither fate, nor her own heart would have allowed her to fail this task, even if right now, she felt like the scum of the universe.

TBC~~~

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Short chapter I know, but it was merely set up…Rukangel was right when she said a storm was about to hit, and now that I have all of my planning for the arc outlined and ready, all that's left to do is type out the chapters I've planned… Small fluff for the next chapter, but then after that I can't guarantee much fluff for a while...


	33. Chapter 33

A/N: Hey guys, we are nearing the end of the first arc within the next few chapters. (Excluding this one…this is more of a prep/fluff) Be ready, because when the storm hit's it'll hit hard and fast. I will give you a hint however. This particular chapter contains Setsuna's letter. (Hence the title.) Here on out, fate of the fiction, rather, the reasons things occur here on, is because of the statements in this letter.

Now, I want it to be noted that Setsuna is the mage of time. This means she can technically send the letter to multiple areas throughout time (Paradox) if fate would wish it. In light of this, keep in mind that this letter holds the key(s) for the rest of the fiction. (I told you I had to set up and this was what I was fiddling with.)

Anyway, enjoy this chapter and leave a review.

I don't own Sailor Moon.

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Chapter 32: Letter's Test of Time.

Life was calm on the moon. The presence while still among them was not causing any more malice for the moment. All was going well, everything according to plan. Mamoru called to report the safety of Earth and Nephrite woke up. Beryl also seemed to make a full recovery. The moon was gorgeously lit as more parties livened up the sky easily. Still, Usagi marveled as Earth glistened with exquisiteness unmatched. They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and for Usagi, the round sphere within the night was just more brilliant than anything else that she had ever seen.

Beauty, however lovely, is also something that should be feared. Even wonderful sights normally have a danger within, just under the surface. Many don't expect that danger. However, perhaps that's why something so gorgeous should ever be trusted. Nothing in the universe is totally perfect, every glistening gem, every shining star, has it blemish, and Earth, while nice to look at, held it's imperfection deep within. It was one unseen, one never truly known, but perhaps that's what had made it so dangerous in the first place.

After yet another party lasting well into the night the princesses retired to their quarters. For some, like Usagi and Ami, it was lonely within their rooms. Mamoru and the others gave daily reports, but they had not visited, and because of this, some of the people dearest to the Senshi would be forced to wait for the arrivals of their beloveds. For others like Rei and Minako, the night was like most other nights upon the moon after a long, drawn out party.

"What are you doing?" Rei half yawned as she sat up in bed. This wasn't a place she wanted to sleep, but Minako had been complaining about the sand, and thus, Rei conceded to sleep in a more suitable environment by Minako's standards. "You wanted to sleep in a 'good bed' so get over here already." The fluffy blanket had been pulled back so that it draped over only half of the bed. Silken white sheets with golden trim made the bed slippery, and Rei got aggravated at the lack of security.

"If I actually get to stay here for the night I'm going to enjoy myself." Minako's smile was the one and only reason Rei had agreed to this. A brush was being pulled through blond locks slowly and carefully. Minako rarely took the time anymore to have the benefit of such guilty pleasures as a hot bubble bath and properly conditioned hair. "It is nice to enjoy the amenities every once and a while." She bantered placing down her hair brush and waltzing to the other side of the room where some tea and cookies had been freshly prepared.

"Or so you seem to think." Rei grumbled. "I am a Martian. We are of such a great class of warriors that we simply do not seek such annoyances as this." She was still clinging to the sheets not liking the soft texture. "Why can't you use reasonable things to dress a bed?" The effect of luxurious comforts had been lost on a person like Rei and it was all Minako could do not to laugh at the obvious confusion. "Don't give me that look! Even Usagi's bed is more logical than this!" Rei retorted leaning on the edge almost falling off.

Minako only looked amused as she took in the sight before her. Rei had answered her own question after all. "Usagi is a total klutz when she's tired. She would kill herself if she tried to sleep in sheets like that." Minako bit into a cookie as Rei glared as if to say that the particular fact was beyond the point of obvious. "You seem to fail in understanding the reason behind such…how do we say, subtle aphrodisiacs." She walked slowly over to the bed, her blue eyes full of mirth as she taunted Rei. "However, I don't think it would be a good idea for you of all people to question it."

Around the room, a plethora of apparel had found its way into the setting, creating a mood most pleasing to any who frequented Venus. Scented candles gave the room a relaxing cent, the fireplace making an ocean of heat as the fire cracked the wood, the air wasn't very cool to say the least, and Rei was at least thankful for that. With the bedding only one of the many extra additives fit for perfection, there was no shortage of food and drink at their service. The windows provided the most appeasing view of earth, and all in all, it was everything you'd expect and more.

"A place for sleep should have burlap or some other good sleeping foundation." Rei explained with her eyes half closed in an indignant posture. "You would need a very hi-high-hey!" Rei hadn't been expecting to feel the sheet slip across her thigh with one fingernail elegantly tracing patterns on her skin. "What do you think you're…" She gulped mid speech as the robe Minako had on slowly slipped down her curves, dropping down the side of the bed, onto the floor. The only thing covering her body was a lacy gown, almost completely see-through and not nearly long enough as the bottom hem barely covered Minako's butt.

"Now, what was that you were saying, oh great warrior?" Minako's breath was running shivers down Rei's spine.  
"That you would need a high resistance material for proper bedding." Rei stammered not fully sure why she had been ranting about that.  
"I assume that for sleeping that is indeed what you would use." Minako nodded in agreement, her teeth playing with Rei's earlobe. "But we aren't sleeping."  
"So I see." Rei answered taking a deep breath, as she felt deft fingers playing around on her thighs. "So what exactly is it you claim we should be doing?"  
"You're the warrior." Minako answered, pushing Rei down onto the bed leaning over her. "Figure it out."

* * *

Trista grumbled in annoyance as fate once again acted like a petulant child. By now she learned to ignore the ill feelings fate gave her at its own whim. Instead her focus was on a duplicate letter that sat before her. Trista had also been given an order pertaining to the letter Setsuna had written and now it was her turn to act accordingly. This particular letter she had been told to take to Earth, she would need to do so without fail. Tearing a whole within the time line, she did as she had been instructed, all the while reflecting on the nature of the letter.

The scroll had to be sent into the portal. Its destination was chosen by fate as it landed into the hands of a selected group of people. All were in need of encouragement, some more than others. However, this letter of hope, the document of dreams, held a secret unknown to the people holding it. This letter would encourage life, welcome death, and bring upon an era so wondrous, that the only way to attain such a goal had to be nearly impossible. For those of disbelief, and others with misguided satisfaction, it would be nothing more than a trial.

For those with nothing left, it was this letter that perhaps kept their dream alive…

_To whom it may concern,_

_If you are reading this, I've surely found the one person. You, the one who needs to see my words more than anyone else within the universe. Take no heed, feel no worries, let go the tears of your pain. I am here to guide you're path through the darkness that you feel wounded by. You won't see me; I will not appear before your eyes. I'm unable to give that request. Rather, I'm here to grant your fondest wish._

_I know you say that is impossible, I know you may think that these words are a lie, but I promise you this, you're wish, it will come true._

_If you are wondering about me, the one writing this, I will tell you all I can. I have seen the birth of many, watched the suffering of those who cannot be saved. I offer a guiding hand for those who have none. I gift the warmest of hugs to those who know nothing of such things. I scold those that feel anger. I reprimand those who act without remorse. I am the worst nightmare of darkness. I am without my own guiding light. No one will come to save me, for I must save others at my expense. That is who I am, nothing more, nothing less than my intended tasks. For many, I am not real; and there is no reason to place faith in those who do not believe._

_However you are a dreamer…of this I know without a doubt…_

_If you can dream, you can believe. It is the seemingly impossible that I can grant. In order to receive these gifts you must wish upon the one thing people hardly think to wish upon. The sun is too bright, and will burn away the dream. The stars are too small, and cannot glimmer brightly enough to grant the dazzling future you want to achieve. Fear not, for if you look, your answer will be there. It will always come back even if it leaves. You're light shall never fully abandon you; its heart is far too pure…it would never harm you like that._

_The things you wish are under your guiding light. It's the one thing that shines brighter than any star, the place that in the depth of night becomes obscured by the clouds. It is its own sanctuary when it hides in the sky. This place is beautiful, and from a perch upon this place I can see where you want to be, with the people you want to be with. I know what it's like to be alone, and right now, I cannot do much else but offer you a guiding hand._

_That moon is your answer, that light is your solace. Do not forget this, because when the time comes you will need to reach for your dreams yourself. No one else will do it for you, and you would never be forced to chase after what you would not believe. Thus, you must fight for your heart and walk onward through your path, no matter how hard it will seem. Have faith in my words and you will not be disappointed. Even if you do not believe me and say it is little more than a lie, I bet you will be proven wrong._

_I have said my peace, gifted you my words, and offered you my promise. I can do no more than that. Take my word and one day you will be happy, that is all I can really say. It is my fondest wish to help you achieve the beautiful dreams within your heart, please have faith in me, and I will guide you to a day of true happiness._

The letter had been sent to many. Adults and children alike were gifted these words. Some were little more than lost souls, fearful and alone. Others were dreamers who wanted more than what they had. In their happy lives, they wished a fairytale and this letter, nothing more than plucked from the street, offered them a way to play pretend. Some were thinkers, striving to attain the knowledge that had yet to be discovered. Then there were those who wanted a way to believe and needed a false faith to blindly follow.

The meanings of such words were left for their own hearts to decipher. The actual message was nothing more than a way to reach these individuals. A door was unlocked at the price of a window closed and latched tight. Fate was correcting its wrongs at the expense of many. The lives it sacrificed, the malice it instilled, the hope it left within its wake, and the souls it ultimately cultivated were those of a distant future and the tainted past.

Destruction and rebirth was not only Hotaru's job. It was that of fate, the will of time, the call of destiny.

TBC~~~

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Well, that's all for this chapter. Please leave a review!


	34. Chapter 34

A/N: Since we are not covering the fall of the moon, but rather the event's that precede it, please make sure you are well aware of the event's that take place during the fall. I would recommend that you watch ep 44 (Japanese dub/English sub) so that you are able to keep up if you do not know the events. Below is a small two paragraphs detailing the ep and the points I want you to make note of, but please also keep in mind it is no substitute for watching the actual episode.

One key thing you must all remember is that Beryl was corrupted by Metalia (Whom Mamoru calls evil energy) and that earth was brainwashed by Beryl (Whom he basically calls a witch abusing the power) as a result. Now, keep in mind, Earth was jealous of the Moon because of their long lasting life among other things. It was Earth in and of itself that waged the actual war, and because of this, Mamoru (Endymion as of the time scale of what they called him) had to go into hiding so that nobody knew he still spent time with Usagi since he actually states that he would be considered Usagi's enemy.

Now, it is implied that Usagi and Mamoru had two different meetings. One where Mamoru says he thinks something is in disarray. (And I also implied that with a few of the earlier chapters where he goes to earth, but does not think earth is the main cause since this is before the discovery/fall.) Later he comes back with the information on the impending war he knows will strike the moon. (That I will not show since I claim that to be the fall, or at least the start of the fall and is covered by the anime enough.)

What everyone must keep in mind is that since the fall will not take place, we will not see the actual war, or the admission that Mamoru actually did go undercover. That is where you must pay careful attention for this chapter especially. Although he does state in the anime that he could not be seen with Usagi, I'm doing the events before all of that, which would imply directly that he did, indeed go missing for a short time and thus, his role of saying that would not appear here. Please keep that in mind as you read.

As far as Usagi and the Sailor Senshi are concerned, he is a missing person and the brainwashing, though they have started to occur, aren't something the Sailor Senshi can actually say they know about. If anyone has any questions regarding this, or any other information in the fiction, please feel free to PM me. I know this chapter and concept is a bit complex.

Please read and Review.

I do not own Sailor Moon.

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Chapter 33: Deathly Calm.

~~~~~Earth -Null Point- D Point~~~~~~~~

A woman with unearthly tresses of midnight purple fingered a letter that had been handed to her. It was elegant, the parchment used was topnotch, a fine cut above the rest. Only a figure of the utmost highest standings would use such a thing. Loosely strung out and unaddressed to any singular person Beryl could not believe it was intended for her. It held promises that seemed impossible, threats unable to be attained.

It was rather the obscure letter. Still, this letter held the guarantee of attaining any wish one could want. That in and of itself was an amazing feat if it had been possible. Intriguing though it might have been, this wasn't exactly something that could possibly be true. There would be no possible way that this could hold any sort of merit. It wasn't plausible by any stretch of the imagination.

"And you say you were ordered to give me this letter with no pretense of who wrote it?" Beryl found herself bothered with the information given.  
"Who it had been written by does not matter, although I can assure you that the script is not my own." Trista made sure to conceal her identity well.  
"I would like to see proof of your claim." The order was met forthright as a letter went flying into her direction.  
"As you can see, I too have copied this letter word for word as to give proof. The writing is not my own." Trista mentally thanked fate for such a warning.  
"And you are sure you cannot give me any more information than this?" There was something not right about this letter.  
"Nothing more than what I have spoken of." Trista affirmed, her task nearing completion.  
"What of your derivation? You are not of Earth, of this much I can tell." Beryl was a smart woman, and would not falter in seeking answers.

"I am a woman enslaved to do the bidding of that which binds me. I cannot say more than that or you will not have the pleasure of killing me, I would already be dead for defying my orders." Trista knelt to the floor, acting humbled, knowing that Beryl would not wish to hear that. "If you want to have the answers you seek, follow the letter. Earth and the Moon are kindred spirits; you should have no trouble accomplishing what you desire."

The tall woman seemed to consider this carefully. It was all still a mystery and honestly, it didn't change anything in her eyes. "Alright then you may go." Beryl agreed. "You are dismissed to do as you please, however if I find this out to be a lie, I will have your head, do not forget this." Beryl watched Trista walk away, then her eyes returned to the letter. It seemed odd that such a thing would end up within her hands.

"This gives us all the answers we need." The voice of a woman spoke to Beryl. "As you can see, the answers you want are on the Moon. Those damned unearthly beings are just a threat to you and Mamoru. If you love him, desire him for yourself, you must heed my warning and rid him of the one he loves. I have reason to pity you Beryl. Such an unfortunate woman such as you deserves happiness."

"No." She was fighting this voice more and more now. "I can't, I won't." she shook her head. Yes she loved Mamoru, but that didn't mean she should take the life of another. "It would not be right to kill for him. He doesn't see me; I am mere glass in his eyes. He loves her, dotes on her, lives for her. As much as I loathe the woman, she has gained his heart."

"The wretched woman has no right." The voice spat back in aggravation. "Listen, do you not envy the princess all she has? The powers surrounding her home gifts her long lasting life, one of promise, one of fortitude. You could have that too. This letter even says so; your dreams are not here. Earth cannot give you, or anyone else, anything. I request for you to be happy. The beings that have elongated youth surely are gifted lives of hope and promise. That will bring to you only happiness. I can tell. The moon is a wonderful place indeed."

"That may be true." Beryl couldn't deny that much was likely correct. Often she heard stories of such wonderful things. "Yet even so, I don't see why I should be the one to suffer. If I am the only one who must fight for love I will be hurt. The man I love does not love me; I could never give him what he wants." Her heart ached with such pain. She didn't want to think of him embracing another woman. She wanted him to love her, need her, instead of the woman gifted long lasting youth.

"As you are now, I likely think you are accurate. That man would never love you as you are right at this moment." The voice comforted softly, admitting truth. "However, that may not always be right. There are others like you, more like you, who are hurting too." The voice had long planned for this day, she could almost feel herself inside a mortal body, but furthermore, she had underlying reasons for this. "Jadeite needs love too. He needs Rei, but the woman from Venus stole her. Jadeite will never have love, just as you will never have love. It is such a pity you both will allow pain so willingly. There are others as well."

"What would you have me do?" Beryl all but screamed out. "I am nothing more than a weak human. He will not feel emotion for me; he would never care for me, a woman who will die while she, that princess will be queen, remains forever as beautiful as she is this day. She knows nothing of a mortal life, the scorn and pain of knowing once day life will end so soon. We too, once had longevity. Until our planetary alignments became so muddled…we had a long life…now though…we age and slowly, we die."

"It is not your fault for being born in a shell that could only be called mortality. You do not have to suffer the fate of the other mortals. I give you my word." The voice cooed out a sound that while dark, was nothing short of a motherly purr. A protective voice meant for a fearful child. "I will watch over you and make it so that you have very little pain and nothing to fear. Fall into a deep sleep, let me hold and care for you, and I promise, you will never have to feel such hurt again."

"What must I do to be gifted such a thing?" Beryl was hopeful.

"Close your eyes, and fall into sleep. I will do all of the rest just for you…I promise I will make you happy."

* * *

While Trista was off making trouble intended by fate, Rei spent her night trying to keep the peace before Usagi did something drastic. It was already late, and after three slices of cake and six batches of tea, they hadn't really made progress with anything. Thankfully, Usagi was still her naturally composed self, but it was easy to see that it was only a facade, a ploy to hide her inward turmoil.

"How long has it been?" Minako was trying to assess the situation. Mamoru had apparently missed a few video calls recently.  
"We last spoke on the night there was that meteor shower. We watched it together through the windows while on the call." Usagi explained through a sigh.  
"That was only two days ago." Minako nodded slowly. "Are you sure he hasn't been busy or something."  
"He never misses a call." Usagi explained as she sipped her tea. It was overly sweet, but that's how she liked it. "If he can't make one, he lets me know."

"He has not called you since?" Rei couldn't believe what she was hearing.  
"No, I assumed he would call me like he does every night, but he hasn't." Usagi was drinking her tea and eating her cake with worry.  
"Alright, talk about off the wall." Minako sighed. "He's alright, I'm sure of it, although it is unlike him to miss a phone conference with you."  
"What worries me isn't the fact he missed it, but the fact he didn't have someone else tell us he wouldn't be able to make the call." Rei added.  
"Zoisite always made sure to have either Ami let me know, or she called me personally if he couldn't reach me." Usagi answered between a bite of cake.

Zoisite was smart like that. Minako had always had a fond heart for that particular guard. She always thought ahead, carefully planning things out, and keeping the boys inline. Men had a way of getting busy and forgetting about things women needed, and Usagi was a very clingy kind of girl. She needed the emotional support, and that was a daunting task for even Mamoru and the Senshi to keep up with. Zoisite always made sure to call with information purely so that Ami wasn't dealing with an erratic blond.

"No one has called and told you…" Minako trailed off, she got the idea. It didn't look good. Someone always called.  
"Not anyone at all." If there was ever a time Usagi's eyes were filled with mixed emotions, now would have been it. She was trying so hard to keep it all in.  
"Stop that." Rei's voice was soft and Minako hadn't heard that tone before. It was indescribable. Rei had a gentle voice when she wanted, but never like that.  
"Rei are you…" Minako trailed off, witnessing the sight before her. It was astonishing. Rei looked as if for the moment she was a totally different person.

Showing rare affection towards someone other than Minako, Rei embraced Usagi. She could see the girl was upset, and furthermore, being the princess she was, had taught her well how to hide some of her inner pain. All Usagi wanted to do was crumble apart, and that was an extraordinary sight to see. Still, in Rei's arms that's exactly what the blond did. Big fat crocodile tears falling down her face and racking sobs shaking her violently, looking as if she was a mere child instead of the high class royalty she was. Rei held strong, even as Usagi pounded into Rei's chest feebly with her fist. Usagi had looked so lost, so weak…

As days progressed, there was no actual word from Earth. The television feeds proved only the normal banters about the weather, and a few other bits and pieces. There wasn't any monumental disaster forming, and no one could say that things looked any different than usual. Ami's radar screenings showed earth to be normal, and while that stupid floating mass still would flit from one end of the castle too the other, it proved to continually be little more than an added aggravation. Rei often seemed to get into fights with it, since it happened to be in the area, and everyone simply pegged it as an annoying little ball rather than any actual threat.

In all actuality, that was perhaps the most boggling thing regarding the events. The little shadow was among them, landing in dinner plates, hovering over ceiling lamps, and making itself a visual very apparent to the eyes. You couldn't miss the little thing even if you tried. It acted playful, as if it had been a child or something. There wasn't any actual energy reading from the mass, and it was as if it was just a blank gap in the empty air. Although it didn't make sense, there wasn't much else they had for an explanation.

Their main goal was Usagi. She was waiting day by day for some sort of word, and often tried to reach Earth with no signs of response. It was starting to seem hopeless. Usagi couldn't reach Mamoru, and they couldn't storm Earth under galactic law. All she could do was sit and wait, slowly and surely biding her time, wishing beyond her fearful doubts, praying that he was indeed alright.

TBC~~~

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Please leave a review, let me know what you think. PM me if you have any questions I'll get back to you as soon as i can.


	35. Chapter 35

A/N: Sorry for the short wait on this chapter…it took longer than expected. New theory for Hotaru for this chapter.

"_thoughts"_  
"spoken"

I do not own Sailor Moon.

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Chapter 34: Please, Smile for Me.

"Don't cry." The sound was soft and soothing. "We'll find them, I'm sure of it. We have too." Lavender eyes carefully watching the blond hair, blue eyes girl. Protectiveness was an understatement. Rei knew now things she didn't want to know. Still, her smile was that of honesty, even if it was forced. She no longer wished Usagi to be so upset.

"Please, just leave." That had been all she said…

And, Rei did as she had been ordered to do. She walked out of Usagi's quarters and walked down the pathway into her own, where her fellow Senshi were waiting on her. Ami was stressed and had slept very little recently, her frazzled nerves taking away any sort of logic she may have had in place of sleepy adrenaline induced thinking. Makoto remained her usual self. Brash action was her first idea, stopping to think a came far away second on her list of things to do. Setsuna stood quietly, having nothing to say, refusing to add anything of use, Hotaru was at her side.

Then there was Minako, the distraught blond was feeding off of everyone's emotions. Setsuna's immense guilt, Hotaru's confusion, Ami's irrationality, Makoto's anger, Rei's helplessness, Usagi's depression…it was taking its toll as wave after wave of emotion hit her like a ton of bricks. Her body not only absorbing the strong feelings, it was also causing her own emotional distress to worsen. The already tense room seemed even worse for Minako and she couldn't escape it. All of her willpower was trying to force herself into staying awake so she ignored the room and goings on around her.

Had it been anyone else, Rei knew they would have passed out long before…just like she had on Venus. Rei shuttered at the thought. It made her feel sick, and she could only begin to imagine how Minako felt about it all. "I…the fire…something will happen according to my readings, but I don't know what." She could have cut the air with a butter knife. It was that apprehensive, even Rei could feel that much. "It won't tell me anything."

"You're fire will do you little good." Setsuna's eyes were hard only for a moment, trailing down back into her pool of self hate. "We are powerless by the ties that bind us to both the mortal realm, and that of the unseen. We are shackled to be of no further use. Unless an answer is gifted upon us, we must wait for our own demise."

"That's an awfully dark prophecy coming from a woman who wouldn't speak a word." Rei's voice was tinged with malice. She was starting to think that fate wanted them to suffer. "I can't say that I'm willing to take those words sitting down Setsuna." Rei spat out in annoyance. "Unless you're damn well ready to face me here and now, I suggest you tell me what you know."

The guardian of time shrugged. "I hold no allegiance to you, or anyone else here. Although it is my wish, I can't just do as I please. Mark my words here and now Rei, if I could do as I wanted, said as I pleased, I would have taken our threat down long ago." Looking at Hotaru, she placed a comforting hand on the little girl's head causing her to look up. "If you want to seek out my mother, you are permitted to do so. You don't have to stay if you are fearful."

Hotaru shook her head, but said nothing. More and more she was acting as the child fated to bring upon the end, and her mannerisms also reflected it. If she was fearful she no longer cried. If she was angry, her powers of such irritation seeped through. In joy, she was nearly as unreadable as Setsuna could be, and just as calm. She made as little noise as possible; her muted voice could be noted into solid fact. She was the forsaken child, and everyone did well to remember that. "You want to stay here? why…"

Hotaru nodded. Walking slowly over to Rei, a questioning look in her eyes as she stopped short, looking up at the powerful Martian. She pulled on the cloth that was Rei's garments and pointed at her…trying to insinuate that she demanded Rei's attention, grabby hands being made as if to ask to be picked up. "Rei, she wants you to hold her." Setsuna knew well how to understand the child.

Rei complied, but picked her up by the back of her shirt collar, holding the small one at arm's length. "What?" The little one tried to reach for her, but Rei had no desire to get close. With the recent events Hotaru was a dangerous being. Rei wouldn't allow the small one any sort of trust. Still she fidgeted almost sadly, and Rei sat her roughly on one of the empty weapon racks. "What!" That time she snapped, almost yelling. Her voice fierce she remained on guard.

"Rei…are you alright? Minako's head felt hazy, and it was hard to see past the emotions into normal reality.  
"I'm fine." The reply came through gritted teeth.  
"It won't do you any good to strain your body." Ami was matter of fact. "You need to relax."  
"You need sleep. For my sake too." She looked as ill as she sounded and quickly Setsuna found the trashcan, bringing it over to Minako.  
Hotaru poked at Rei again with that look on her face. "What!" this time Rei shouted and couldn't keep in her anger.

While Minako held her head because of Rei's large release in fury, the rest of the room was shocked when the little girl tapped at Rei's face. She seemed confused, and that was rather odd. Rei only looked to be further aggravated. "She can't speak to you." Makoto could see this was going to turn bad quickly and had to say something to keep things from getting out of hand. "She's mute, but it seems like she's trying to ask you something."

"I'd sure like to know what the hell it is." Lavender eyes of aggravation met those of childish violet. "Well? What do you want to ask?" Hotaru poked at Rei's face again before the Martian apprehend her small hand. "Without poking at me would be nice." Rei all but snarled. Purple light emitted and Rei pulled back as a small pain washed through her being. It wasn't damaging, but she had clearly upset Hotaru, the young one running behind Makoto and Setsuna glaring in fear and partial annoyance. "Stupid little thing isn't she?"

"I don't think she is." Makoto sighed as Hotaru sought to get up on her lap. The tall brunette obliged willingly. "I'll admit, I hated her too at first, but she's not evil." The glare Hotaru emitted was clearly one that spoke sure anger, but she snuggled into the warm comforts that she had found. If the tall Martian wouldn't be nice to her, the Jovian would…

Hotaru looked at the Martian. _"Angry…that's all…just angry…not hate me…angry…"_ Then she looked at the blond Venusian. _"Why angry…cause…she not know why…she is…but is…"_ Then she turned looking at the woman holding her that she identified was the Jovian. _"Like me…confused…but like me…"_ Her thoughts had been snapped out of her mind when Setsuna spoke.

"In times of disaster and malice it has been foretold that an malevolence will strike down all who have wronged the world. This prophecy is Hotaru, Sailor Saturn." Setsuna explained. "The reason she acts as she is remains a rather simple thing. Sailor Saturn is two conjoined souls. One of dark and one of light intertwined. However, she can only be consumed by one of them during any given awakening. If the dark one takes control, she grows into a being that is rather primal. She will be an intelligent life form; however most of her abilities will be based on purely instinct alone."

Hotaru went back to ignoring the conversation. She understood it fully, and had no reason to worry. The woman of Pluto was her protector, and she knew well that the soft, occasionally monotone voice was the woman who cared for her the most. Her eyes rested on the little back orb in the corner of the room. _"Bad…bad is back…bad is mean…go bad…no bad…hate bad."_ She couldn't understand why, but she didn't like the floating orb and tried to glare at it, however it did nothing to detour the small ball. _"Can't touch…can't hurt bad...hard to go away…"_

"If she is treated with kind fostering and a bright world full of happiness, she will be awakened into Sailor Saturn's second, but rare heart. She will be a little girl with a smile, able to speak our tongue…when disaster strikes she will fight alongside the ranks without fail. If Hotaru is shown a happy world and peaceful life, a promise of a kind and gentle future, she will become the Saturn that while rare to meet, does exist within that little girl."

Hotaru gazed at Setsuna then…a knowing look gave Setsuna an unsettling sort of peace. _"Ok to do job…job alright…no cry…no sad…"_ Her small hand pat Setsuna's arm softly. It was hard to tell this was the feral child known only for destruction. Then she looked at Makoto. _"Protector's, protector…guard protector well…love care for protector…"_

"However, do to the events, her soul changed into the darker heart, the primal being hell bent…when she awakens she will be the killer you fear. The only way we could possibly reverse the effect is to restore natural order and peace. Then her heart will slowly return to the peaceful soul. If she starts to rapidly age, we will be in trouble. I think we need to keep in mind that Hotaru is dangerous, but it's our fault that we make her out to be so. Her fate is in our hands." Setsuna looked at Rei as a sort of compression hit.

"Hotaru." Rei's voice called the child. "Come here." It was in both an order and in warning. The child did as she was told. "Why were you poking at me?" Rei's aggravated face made Hotaru feel insecure and for a moment she considered sending one of her energy blasts at her. All that would have done was serve to make the Martian angrier, and Hotaru didn't want that. "Can you try to explain to me?"

The little girl shook her head. She knew Rei didn't understand her. She couldn't speak either, and so, she was stuck, going over to the blond poking her while looking at Rei. _"no like sad…"_ She kept poking at the blond, and then tugged on Rei. _'no want crying…no sad..no hurt…"_ It wasn't going to get through to Rei, but she pointed at the ball of energy, glaring at it annoyed. _"bad…bad make sad…fix sad...make bad go away…"_

"You do realize that I'll I'm getting from this is that you don't like the ball and you seem to have an issue dealing with Minako and I…you do understand right?" Rei sighed when she saw Hotaru nod, looking defeated. Rei wasn't fond of the child, but that didn't mean she wanted any more water works today either so she resigned herself to being nice to her, if only just this once. "Can you smile?"

"_I can…"_ Hotaru nodded, but she seemed confused and again cocked her head to the side. _"Why…"_  
"Smile for me Hotaru…we don't need anyone else feeling badly about this…just smile for now." Rei was inwardly amazed she was even humoring the girl.

And smile Hotaru did. A soft reserved smile. One that an innocent little girl would give. _"see…Jovian…Martian like me…not sure…can't trust…but no hate…Martian like…"_ Then she crawled up on the Sofa Minako was sitting quietly on. Pushing her thumbs on Minako's face, trying to make her smile. Instead she looked like odd._ "Venusian won't smile…not now…not with bad…"_ Getting angry with the small little mass, she flung her energy at it, knowing it wouldn't do any good. The power only barely chipped the paint. _"Hate bad…"_

TBC!

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So what do you think about my thoughts on a new way to work with Hotaru, since she is the bringer of sclience after all...thought it might be fun to show that in a new way. Please read and review._  
_


	36. Chapter 36

A/N: Well here we go with the next chapter. Short chapter I know. Dark from here on out until the new arc. Let this be your warning...

_"Thoughts."_  
"Speaking."

I do not own Sailor Moon.

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Chapter 35: Murderer

Days wore on slowly as the small child had to endure the sights and sounds around her. The voice of her spirit called her more and more, and slowly she lost most of her ideals on morality and mortality. With the Moon facing some of the darkest days she had ever seen, she could feel a deep well of sadness pool at the souls around her. Voices of the dead and those wishing to die found her ears granting darker truth. Those looking for answers and redemption cried out as some of the best of warriors left without a trace.

Families were hurting, children were crying, loved ones hopeless, and Hotaru grew darker with each passing day. The world was corrupting her, slowly and surely her into hateful malice. Logical thought left her for more primal needs, and baser instincts. Kill or be killed. Hunt or be hunted. Protect or lose. These things were engraved into her mind. She acted as fierce as a mother bear would a cub at signs of danger. As cuddly as a kitten at signs of comfort, and like that of a hunter after it's pray, she acted as quietly as she could. She was a monster, through and through, ready to awaken.

Setsuna could only watch as the small child continually chased at the ball of energy she so detested. At signs of sadness, Hotaru tried to cheer the person up, yet with no avail. The more animalistic the child grew, so did her lack of comprehension for the reasons why people feared her, only further casting her from the world she knew. This was the dark child, and soon she would grow into a danger no one would care to deal with. It fell on the course of fate, and those who served such a keeper to deal with her.

"And you'd willingly kill her off?" Setsuna couldn't believe hearing the words from her mother. "You claim she was a savior to us, the mages who cannot die, and yet you will take her life so she can't do what she must!" Setsuna didn't know how to act. Surely to cry or to be angry would have come to mind, however she was most stunned than anything. "Why do I get the feeling you're just a damn pawn playing to the wishes of fate."

"That's because I am." Trista sighed. Why did her child need to be so stubborn about everything? "I'll go so that you don't have too; I'll take Hotaru with me. I swear it, you'll never hear another word from me and you'll not need to witness what must be done. In return for this, you will guard the gates and do your job as was ordered and preordained upon your birth. It is the best I can offer you Setsuna."

"The best you can offer?" She spat out in total disgust. "That's nothing more than a lie. You've lived for so long, and now, after telling me all that you have, you put a lie into my face expecting me to accept it as the truth. Fate can't hold you that hard, it can't chain you so much that you become unable to move! There's no way it owns you so severely. I refuse to believe that." She bit her lip looking to the floor. "You could spare her…you could…you just don't want too."

"Yes. Indeed I could spare the child her life, but for how long?" Trista wanted nothing more than to do just that. "I could leave her alone; however isn't that even more depraved? Will you wait until she awakens? When we have to cut her down in battle to the death? Do you really want her to suffer so badly? It would be so easy you know." Trista spoke the facts coldly, she had to be blunt. "The other Senshi wouldn't have a problem cutting her life away as if she was nothing more than another enemy on another battle front. However, do you want her to endure such hardship?"

Setsuna looked too the floor. This was why, often, many felt the girl needed to be killed as an infant. If dark times struck, it was more humane to off her before she awakened, before too many people suffered her wrath. Still, Looking at the small Hotaru now, the scene was hard to accept. "She can't wake Minako up…its upsetting her so much that she can't wake her up." Minako had left go the reality that was the living realm, falling into the dream like coma common from emotional distress.

"She can nuzzle into her all she wants." Trista answered softly. "Hotaru can't wake her up with the palace is in such turmoil. She doesn't understand anymore. It would be wrong to force her powers into awakening like this. Even if I wanted death, I can't accept my own salivation when she'll become such a pained deranged being." Trista rarely cried, years of life had hardened her ability to feel any remorse for natural order, yet still, sadness could be seen in her eyes. "In the long run, I just couldn't rest in peace if I would allow her to further fall victim to such malice."

"Just give me a moment then." Setsuna's voice quivered. Never did she think that she would have allowed this to happen. She walked into Rei's quarters; the blond was on the sofa, asleep within her own emotional confides, Rei hardly better off as she stayed by Minako's side, unwavering in her tasks to care for her. Hotaru? The little one hadn't left, constantly hovering around the sleeping blond. Rei hadn't liked it at first, beating the small girl away a few times; now Rei had given up, allowing the child to get near. "Hotaru." The monotone voice beckoned the girl and she came willingly, she could sense the unease in her protector.

Rei watched for a moment before walking out of the room. She didn't know why, but Setsuna was shedding tears, and that was one thing Rei never wanted to see. Trista was outside of the door, and it took all Rei had not to deck the woman in the face. "Want to tell me just what the hell you plan to do?"

"Anger suits you well, but I'd advise you not be so crass with your actions." Trista warned solemnly.  
"That's crap." Rei growled. "Setsuna may be an annoyance, but she doesn't cry." She grabbed Trista's shirt collar. "What in the hell did you do?"  
"My job and nothing more." The response was spoken calmly as she removed Rei's hands. "Setsuna allowed attachment, now she suffers. I can't help that."  
"Sounds like you take a sick pleasure in watching her in such pain." Rei was already on the offensive with Minako asleep. Trista made a good target.  
"Do I now?" Trista wasn't in the mood for this. "It seems to me that I've chose the lesser of two evils. I'm doing what's best."  
"That's a boldfaced lie!" Rei stepped forward throwing a punch. "Why are you keeping it all a secret? What's happening! I know you know!"

"She knows as much as I know." Setsuna walked through the door, Hotaru in tow. "I can't say I agree either Rei, but there's nothing we can do. We can shed all the blood we want, it will do no good. What must be done is what is going to happen; all I can say is that for what it's worth, we will not always endure such pain." She let go of Hotaru, kneeling to her level. "You know that I'm sorry right?" Hot tears slipped down her face and again she starting sobbing. "You know that…right?"

Hotaru just shook her head. Patting the mage lightly on the forehead she cocked her head to the side before trying to push Setsuna's lips into a smile. _"No cry…job…no cry…"_ She walked over to Rei, pointing at the mage, and then Rei's broach upon her shirt. The Moonga glimmered in the pale light and Rei nodded. _"Protect…job…protect…"_ Without another signal she walked over to Trista, stopping her from making a move. _"Don't want job…"_ She could feel that answer within her heart and she sighed. She turned to Rei, a deep purple invading her eyes as an almost demonic voice called. "Martian…do job…protect." And with that, Hotaru awakened her powers, cutting Trista's life away with a blast of energy as she rapidly grew four years in age.

Rei panicked as she pulled out her sword. The energy was so intense; she could feel it flowing off of the girl in waves. She braced herself as Hotaru flung another ball of energy head on, this time at Rei. "Protect!" Hotaru shouted again, her power was consuming her as she fought both it, and Rei. "Do job!" She coughed up blood as she fought her own powers. Rei was unsure what to do; dogging the spastic energy was hard enough. She couldn't get close.

"I Can't!" She shouted to the being. "Hotaru, I can't protect you!" Rei wasn't sure why, but it sounded like a plea, a cry for help. Something sounded like it was in side of her, Hotaru sounded scared even if the voice wasn't a normal sound.

"Not her." Setsuna was the first to comprehend what was going on. "Rei…she wants you to kill her." She put her hand to her face. Hotaru had known all too well what her fate was going to be. She was asking to be stopped and that thought alone made Setsuna freeze in horror. Hotaru knew and yet she was going to awaken herself anyway. "Do it before she fully awakens her power!"

"Easy for you to say!" Rei shouted as she jumped into the energy field again only to be blasted into the wall. Hotaru flung two more energy blasts into the air at seemingly unattainable speeds, Rei was getting easily beaten.

Setsuna was a mage. It was the job of a mage to deal with fate, and serve only the whim of destiny. She nodded, knowing what she had to do, and knowing the price she would pay in return. She pulled the staff into her hands, the cool metal was something she knew well of. It was her job now; it was her task and her responsibility. _"I too am now the condemned, I'm sorry Hotaru…I promise I won't fail you again…I'll never fail you again after this…"_

"TIME STOP!"

TBC~~

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Please leave a review.


	37. Chapter 37

A/N: Here we have the next chapter.

I do not own Sailor moon.

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Chapter 36: Seemingly right.

~Setsuna's POV~

"TIME STOP!" That's what I had yelled with a deadly ferocity. Why, I'm not sure. I guess I was hoping to give Rei the chance she needed, and ultimately I did. I was taken away to the gates, forsaken for my crime, the last thing I saw was Hotaru falling to the ground in her own pool of blood. For what significance it held, I think, for a moment I saw what her violet eyes flicker one last time. A part of me saw the little girl I so loved to protect, and that's what proved to me that it was all worth it.

The power was raw when she had called it. Normally, from the stories I'd heard, you'd never fully awaken her powers for that exact reason, not unless you were sure she was ready. Her powers were great, her attacks something I can vividly remember in this closed tomb of the gate. My job is to serve fate, and, at this moment I sit in the utter nothingness that leaves me in a cold chill. I think I understand why mother wanted to die so badly. Hotaru would provide me with redemption too one day, if she were still alive.

I know she will return. She always does. Then she'll be given a new chance, however I'm faced with a new darkness, something I cannot accept. I do not know how to train her. She will surely be dangerous if she cannot control her powers, and now as I sit here, in a time I myself remain unsure of, I'm led to wonder if I'll be able to get near her. For now, I sit inside my dark prison…I can do no more. I must wait until fate calls for me again…ironically; it is only an instant until new orders are made.

My prearranged directions are given to me within moments and soon I act on them. The Dark Moon has attacked Crystal Tokyo, because of this, I know I'm years ahead of time, in a possible future. Chibiusa, Usagi's daughter, is in danger. Apparently, I'm further ahead in time than I thought, and it is my job to do as I am told. I guess the work of a mage is never done and now it is my time to aid my princess…no the Queen…in any way I can.…

I'm still merely a slave to fate.

~~~End Setsuna POV~~~

"Damn kid." Rei sputtered as she held the side of her body. She felt as if her body underwent extreme jet lag, but there was no real reason for such things. Two dead bodies lay before her as she sunk to the floor. Now wasn't the time to mourn, she had other concerns. Those of the living should be her main concern, and for some reason, she felt light headed, her fingers sticky from the blood on her blade. Apart of her wanted nothing more than to start shouting snide remarks, but something held her back, instead, she actually smirked.

On the floor before her two bodies were motionless. One was Hotaru; the other was none other than Trista, Queen of Pluto. The smell of battle graced Rei's nose and she sighed at her victory. Sweat, blood, and the slight hints of acid from fatal wounds seeped from Hotaru's body, a clear sign that she was no longer alive. Yet even if her body was no more than a motionless heap, another slain from battle, Rei couldn't help but roll her eyes as Hotaru's soul lingered in the air. Trista's soul had long since left, but Hotaru was staying, likely looking for answers left undone.

She pulled off the broach on her shirt. "Last thing you pointed at…I should have known. You did pretty good Hotaru; you don't need to stay around anymore." She placed the broach in the girl's hand and nodded. "You would have made a proud warrior among the Martians. Rest in peace now kiddo, you deserve that much." With that, she began her march down the hall to inform the others.

The castle was buzzing with activity a few days later when word from Mamoru came. Usagi was happy to know of his life; however she had been uninformed about anything regarding his whereabouts or future well being. Still, with the news of safety close at hand, morale boosted, and soon the hope of his possible arrival gave comfort to the warring emotions, awaking Minako from her dark sleep. Life was slowly was returning into balance.

"You need to rest." Rei growled as the blond tried to walk on her own. "You were out cold a long time."  
"I'm fine." Minako shook her head. "I want to visit them." Blue eyes held a level of remorse and Rei only felt worried for the emotional blond.  
"You can't mourn for Hotaru's strength, or Trista's wish." Rei's voice was all too serious. "Hotaru did what had to be done, nothing more."  
"How can you be so sure?" Leave it to Minako to be upset over a matter such as this. Her tears speaking what her mouth could not.

"I can be sure because I felt her spirit." Rei held the blond up, placing her back on the sofa. "She wasn't sad for her death, likely she knew it was coming. I think she figured if she was going to die anyway, she might as well allow something good to come of it." Rei shrugged not overly concerned. In her eyes, it was time to move on. "It's best not to dwell."

"Rei, I need to pay my respects." Minako shot back. "If I would have been awake, then perhaps she wouldn't have awakened."  
"You hastened the inevitable, nothing more. It would have happened anyway." Rei's explanation was void of emotion.  
"Please…i know how you feel...but please?" Rei rolled her eyes; Minako had such a way to make her do things that really weren't necessary.

Rei sighed, scooping up Minako and carrying the girl down the palace steps and into the flower garden where Makoto sat quietly. Hotaru had been buried here, her favorite place among the flowers. Her grave was simple, Rei's old gem implanted into the stone the marked it. She place Minako down, the blond taking a seat not saying a word. Both of the seated girls looked broken, and even Usagi had more pep in her step than this.

"Listen. A proud warrior never leaves a task undone. Hotaru could have gone and gotten killed, we would have done it anyway. Instead she chose honor, giving that mage something she never would have had. Crying will not give Hotaru the honor she deserves. She was a child, and still, despite that, acted without greed. I know you don't get it, but that is a very noble trait. She deserves your praise and admiration, not bitter, mournful tears." Rei didn't stay at the grave; she had no need to cry tears over a job well done.

TBC~~~

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I told you this was going to come fast. Please read and review. Two more chapters and then we start the merger into arc 2.


	38. Chapter 38

I do not own Sailor Moon.

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Chapter 37: Accepting Responsibility.

Usagi sat on the throne next to her mother. Both of them were sitting above the room acting the epitome of elegance. The table before them draped in the finest of silk, four pens of royalty sat before them, as well as four princesses standing in the colors of their respective planets, the traditional garb for the event donned, each different but no less exquisite.

"You have all grown into fine young women." The Queen of the Moon addressed carefully, unsure if she and the others should have willingly agreed to this. "It is time you take the responsibility placed before you as the heirs of your planets." True, they had not been married off, but they simply couldn't wait any longer. Usagi needed her warriors to protect her. "You must become the Sailor Senshi that you were destined to be."

Minako stood slightly ahead of the other three inner Senshi. Her clothing was a sister dress that matched Usagi's perfectly, the only difference was the off white creamy color hers took on in contrast to the completely white one Usagi wore. The sword of Venus passed down from generation to generation was a thin, but long blade that rested at her side. Light and easy to use by that of a woman, unlike Rei's thick, heavy blade, Minako's was lighter and far more delicate.

"Aino Minako, you are the second woman to bear that name among the royalty of your home planet. Like your mother and I, you and Usagi share an inseparable bond of sisterhood through your planetary alignment. She is that of the Moon, part of Earth, and thus, the guiding light to further the way. You are that of Venus, and thus the guiding spirit of emotion. You're task among the Senshi is to unify and protect what would be broken shattered fragments otherwise. Do you understand you're preordained mission?"

"Yes." Minako answered, her eyes focused to Usagi. "To protect and serve only bears half on the weight of my job. Mark my words for all to hear. I will guide and lead the Senshi into any battle and uphold that which we have founded over years of hardship. Furthermore, I will act as that of a sister to Usagi, bearing the weight that she, herself, finds unable to handle. A truly peaceful galaxy will remain our future goal and intended final outcome."

Rei remained kneeling down, as was expected of her people. Usagi was a princess, and Rei was too, however the Martian knew her place. Usagi was the one she would protect and serve. Her armor was that of the finest and strongest her planet had. With her sword at her side, bow and arrows at her back, her daggers sequestered into their hidden spots, she was the one of protection, and dressed accordingly. Long black tresses of hair were held back with the thinnest of ties, matching her hair color as best as possible, two thick strands were left to frame her face, her bangs freshly trimmed above her eyebrows.

"Hino Rei, of your planet you are the only one able to lead your people. You are the only child, raised by your father, able to bear the title capable to lead those of your planet. Furthermore, your planet does not allow a child to be adopted into the role of a ruler. Surely you are one who must face the cold stare of disapproval among your people since you hold Minako as the woman that you intend to wed. Can you face down the repercussions of such questionable action?"

"I Rei of Mars fully accept my task to protect and serve Usagi. My job is second in command. It is the first time the planet of Mars has lost the role of combat leader, however perhaps this will pave the way into a new enlightenment for my people. Some changes should be made, and I feel as if this could be the omen long awaited to correct the wrongful accusations placed among my homeland. While it is true that Usagi remains my first priority, Minako is a part of my family now, and as such I think I need not explain my reasons for action within my personal affairs. If anything, I think that this relationship will only serve me to do my job better as second under Minako's command."

"Be that as it may, you may provide difficulty in the long run if you allow your feelings to control your actions." The Queen answered turning to her daughter. "Usagi, these people before you, regardless of ties you may have had, will become your Senshi. As a result, you must accept their burdens as your own. Rei's planet may be placed into turmoil because of her actions; this could have long lasting issues on the entire galaxy. Do you approve of what Rei spoke of, or do you disapprove of her reasoning. As the future Queen you have a very real say in this union."

"I for one find this to be an atrocious idea." Luna, the little black cat sat in Usagi's lap looking rather agitated. "We already lost many great Senshi in the past due to romantic relationships." Luna looked to Usagi. "I cannot agree, and as an adviser to the Moon Kingdom, I must object completely towards any claim the Martian may make."

Rei and Minako bristled. They hadn't expected this particular issue to have been brought up. Usagi merely smiled, petting Luna as she spoke. "While it is true that our Kingdom has a rather dark history, I can't punish Rei and Minako for actions that they were not accountable for. In regards to Mars, that is, by and large, Rei's responsibility. I will not confirm or deny what I feel about it because I will not have my own words used against me later. Right now, the decision remains in their hands, I will not step in the way of them, or the possible outcome we may face as a result."

"Fair enough." The Queen nodded.

Ami flanked Minako's side, standing only slightly behind her. Her clothing was of her normal dress of ice that seemed to drape her body in a cool chill. Guns at her side, bullet pouches holding many types of rounds and a medic backpack, she was by and large the most fragile looking on the team, but perhaps also the most deadly. Unlike Rei who looked like a valiant knight, or Minako who looked like a simple princess would, Ami looked like a person easy to shatter. That is, if you could get close enough to do so.

"Mizuno Ami, bearer of knowledge, you are third in command, and, respectively, the tactical expert in all Senshi related matters. You're tasks are placed on a path before you, and although it is not an easy climb, I expect you'll do as your mother, facing all who oppose you, leading the way of advancement that will bathe our galaxy's future into bright and prosperous world."

"You have my word." The simple replay from the shy voice spoke volumes. "I will protect Usagi and follow the fate placed before me."

Finally Makoto, in her normal leathers and furs standing at Ami's side. Her head bowed, just like Rei, she was the final of the inner Senshi. She carried no sword, however the long spear on her back, while primitive, proved how well she did with the use of polearms. Her gloves were heavily enforced, spikes at her knuckles, and spurs embedded at her heals. Hand to hand fighting was a specialty among her people. Cuffs tied around her elbows sported more spikes, her knees protected by some sort of shell.

"The last of the Senshi, and fourth in command, I feel badly that the final outcome has happened this way, Kino Makoto. Your people are strong fighters, and one job given to you throughout each generation is to protect that of Mercury. Your parents have laid for you a legacy to be proud of, but sadly, I feel as if you have not moved on to accept the realities of your situation. Serve Usagi with your life; offer Ami your servitude as a planetary protector, and rebuild that which you have lost. It is time the planet of Jupiter stood proudly once more."

"I will do just that." Makoto nodded, but kept her eyes to the ground. "Jupiter will stand tall again soon. I will protect Usagi and Ami with my life. I guarantee that I will do my best to ensure that Jupiter will become the planet of honor that it once was." Her speech, like Ami's was short and to the point, but held a great level of power behind her words.

"This is satisfactory." The Queen nodded her approval. "Before you are the pens of each respective planet, the innate abilities you already possess grant you enough power to call forth the deities that will ensure you're strong enough for the times that will be sure to come. The job of a Senshi is not a task one would call easy, but it is one that is imperative for continued tranquility and opulence for you, and of your planets. By accepting these trinkets you free your parents, guardians, and planetary council members from any further leadership that my keep them shackled too their throne."

Each pen glowed with colored aura that signified a planet, and the power behind it. Each Senshi took their pen and without celebration, without anguish, and without lament, walked freely from the throne room. The conditions for why they had been given such power left them baffled, but they felt unable to question the reason behind a hidden blessing. Still, with the gifts of the planets bestowed to the new generation, the old had no further reason to stay. They left that night, without words of warning, and without a goodbye too their children.

"You will be missed. Be sure to travel safe, I'd rather know you made the trip on a positive ending even if the eventual outcome is the same." The Queen of the Moon smiled as she embraced the last two who had not yet departed into the night. "Don't worry about the girls; I'll be sure to look after them as if they were my own." Not that she hadn't already been doing that anyway but, it seemed a good thing to say regardless.

"I'm not worried about Rei." Jed shook his head. "I raised her to be strong. She is a powerful Martian and will lead her people well, although I still can't say I agree with that boy of hers becoming an heir." His scowl made the blonds next to him smirk and he huff in annoyance. "Minako's turned her soft. Who ever heard of a Martian boy outside of bloodline becoming an heir…what a preposterous idea."

"Minako will be fine by Rei's side." The Queen of Venus nodded. "I have feeling they will be alright, you mark my words on that."  
"Are you really staying behind?" Jed paused as he looked sadly at the Queen of the Moon. "We would wait for you if you wished."  
"I will stay with Usagi. I am needed here with her. Without Setsuna around, someone needs to guide her." She shook her head softly.  
"Luna and Artemis could do the job rather well." The Venusian Queen smiled. "We should go together. It's only fitting."

"I will stay." She looked to her fellow parents, Senshi who had long served her. The remaining survivors didn't need to stay any longer. "Please, go…I will join you soon enough. You need not protect me anymore, as of this moment on; you hold no more allegiance to me, or my family. Long life must come to an end, and it is time you sought yours…these girls will need somebody, and I will stay until I am assured that Usagi will no longer need me."

Jed and Minako nodded, leaving the realm they knew so well. The power of being Senshi, gave them all a level of long lasting life, including Jed, who although not born as a Senshi, had been gifted long life from his home planet of Mars. Now there was no reason to stay, and that night, they went off to the forsaken planet of Saturn, where their lives were taken within an instant. Without the powers to protect them, there was nothing to stop them from hearing the call of death, embracing the silent cloak of a past unforgotten.

"Goodbye my friends, I hope that I too, will see you in the afterlife shortly." The Queen whispered out into the air. She was the last one left now, and she could help but admit, it did seem kind of lonely.

TBC~

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One more chapter until arc 2. Please leave a review.


	39. Prices: Bridge 1

A/N: We have a slight change of plans. I was thinking on going directly into arc 2 from the end of this chapter with only one chapter of bridge work to tie it together, but I see it as nothing more than wasted potential to do that. Since I would really like to bridge this properly, well as best as I can, we are going to consider last chapter the end of the first arc, and this way I can do proper bridging work. These next few chapters will be told through the eyes of Setsuna as she recounts the details of the inner Senshi as children (This chapter) and then one chapter per Sailor Moon anime story arc (Classic-Stars = 5 chapters) to make a 6 chapter bridge to bring us slowly into present day.

I only intend to bridge the pieces together. I do not intend this to be a complete and total separate arc.

Please enjoy and review.

I do not own Sailor Moon

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Lonely Tales of the Gates: Fallen Mother, Rebirth of a Dream

Well, she said she would stay. I guess she did, all up to the point that she gave herself to the crystal. She never did get to go to Saturn; rather her soul resides in the crystal, frozen in a time and space that brings nothing but bitter truth. From my place in time, she's still with Usagi every day, and will continue to be so, throughout the generations...for eternity. She has no other option. From my place, far from now, in a possible future, I watch as these girls, the destined warriors grow up in new families, and with new dreams. Too bad i can only see from the gate.

They're different than they used to be, but, I think…maybe that's a good thing. I'm not sure. It isn't like I can be there to take away their pains, I can't quell the things that hurt them, I find that cannot share the joy in their happiness. They don't even know of each other, they would never remember me. Still, I smile, this life isn't what they used to know, but they are normal, at least for now…at least, they know what it's like, to be mortal girls. Earth was so very gifted to be allowed to die at an early age. The thing they coveted is nothing more than a lonely, pained life if the ones you love aren't near.

Usagi cries a lot, and not only when she's upset. She just cries big crocodile tears, her weep loud, as she screams and cries the sounds that in a past life she never would have exhibited. Not unless she had truly been upset. She's also more of a child, she's selfish, sleeps in late, never studies, and yet, if her mother, the Queen, ever saw this, I think she'd smile. She never wanted Usagi to be so mature all of the time, and, I think out of everyone, she was gifted a very happy life.

She got my letter and thinks a dreamy prince sent it. I laughed for a moment as she jumped up and down, showing her mother the elegant letter. This Ikuko looks different, and acts completely different too, I know it was fate making do with that fact that her old mother, the Queen hadn't died properly, and thus, could not be reborn. Usagi is so innocent now, her blue eyes childlike as she gazes in wonder at the paper.

Who knew a simple piece of parchment could make a little girl smile like that?

Rei feels bitterness towards her father; I can't help but feel sorry for her. He isn't around, and her mother? She's gone, Rei doesn't really have anyone in this life she can cling too besides her flighty grandfather, who's still as perverse as he had always been. I can see so much of his blood from Venus in him. It's as if he were reincarnated from the days of old. Too bad her father isn't such a proud man, he has no honor for Rei, and even if he may have the Martian tendencies, they aren't in the right places. If there was ever a person to frown at the way a Martian would treat their family, Hino Takashi would be the man to scorn.

She read the letter and doesn't believe a word of it. So like Rei, taking everything with a grain of salt. Even as a little girl, she's still the same Martian I remember fondly. Still even if she doesn't believe the words, I think apart of her wishes that it was true, and because of that wish, I often see her gazing at the Moon. I think, deep down, she wants to have faith in the letter, and so she looks up at the stars at night, waiting and looking for something that isn't quite there yet.

Makoto lost her family completely, both of her parents are gone, and I see that even now, she's forced to face a world filled with malice towards her. I can only sigh, keeping back my tears as I watch her cling to herself, no one to hold her, no one to protect and love her. She's a sad little girl who, if history likes to repeat as it does tend to do, will grow into a troubled teen. Angry with the world, hateful at herself, untrusting of anyone, and emotionally walled to the point of no return. Once again, there would be no redemption, those souls she loves will mistreat and abuse her. I can't help but want to appear in front of her…if only so I could take away the broken look in the eyes of a little girl clinging to the graves of her only family.

She opened my letter. She thinks she will be watched over from someone far away, I attached another letter stating I was a friend of the family; the money I put in there will keep her from starving on the street. I'm sorry Makoto; I wish I could have done more for you. She cries every night, and she holds the letter tight. Perhaps she feels my warmth there? I dearly hope she does, for I want nothing more than to ease her suffering. Fate will not allow me such a simple request, and so I stay my place, looking after her from afar.

Ami, well, now she's purely a shadow of her former self, the ice that she once controlled covers her heart in a layer that she simply can't undo. I think it's the void of not having Zoisite near her, I think she misses what it feels like to be loved. Her mother is as sterile as the now forgotten past, however, unlike the past; the lonely rooms do nothing to comfort her soul. She doesn't understand human warmth, not like she should anyway. Her mother simply doesn't know how to give her such things. Her mother of the past couldn't either, but back then, it was considered normal. I think she wakes up every day out of routine rather than because she wants to see the new day and smile into the brightly rising sun.

She thinks there's a mystery behind this letter. I laugh, I sent this letter to a few other kids, and now Ami thinks that there may be life on other planets trying to contact her. I'll admit, that was also partly because I accidentally messed up a frequency in a device I'm working on called the "Luna-P". She saw my face on a computer screen for only a moment, and now I think she wants to know what she saw. If it makes her happy, I'll let that accident stay there. No harm done, not if she smiles in such wonder. I won't erase what I did if it makes her that happy.

Hotaru has yet to be born; she still has time to wait until she will gift the world with her existence once again. This time, I cannot fail her; I will not fail her, although at first, it may look like it. Fate will always trouble her very breath; however, if I can give her a fragment of happiness, I'd gladly do it, just to see those little lavender eyes look calm, tranquil, and happy. If I was lucky, perhaps I'd hear her laugh again, I'd see her smile. If she were unhappy, perhaps she'd cry, or yell, kick, and scream. I know many would see it and think poorly of her, but I would smile on the inside if she could just have the gift of simple sound…no matter how she used it, I just want to hear her voice again.

The letter has not reached her yet…

As for me? I'm still at the gates, still in the future where a little girl with pink hair has just been born. She's a cute little girl, and she's so smart for a newborn. She took the name of her mother and now I have another little one to look after. She reminds me…of Usagi…when she was still a princess; she was a lot like Chibiusa. Life is peaceful for the moment, even if I know that soon an attack will rip away everything she's ever known. When it does happen, I'll have to act accordingly, but for now, I'm happy to celebrate a day of birth, a day of happiness in a future that while I know will end up being bleak currently, is all I really have.

I want to go back home…but then I wonder, where is my home? Why do I feel so incomplete? It's not only because I'm lonely is it? No, it couldn't be simply because of that. I'm still a slave to fate and will do as it wishes, but every now and then, like now, I have an urge to place my hand on a door that I have been sealed away from. I could never return to that one moment again no matter what. All I want to do is hug Hotaru...tell her once again how very sorry I am…even if I went back into those times, no one would remember me as what I was.

I would be Sailor Pluto, guardian of time, space, and the gates…but I'd never be Setsuna, caregiver to the forsaken Hotaru, lover of Makoto, adviser of the royal families, and the rebellious daughter of the ever knowing, forever calm, time guardian known as my mother Meioh Trista. I wonder where she is, floating off in the world of the dead most likely. Yes…that is where she belongs, and I really wish I could have thanked Hotaru for granting the wish my mother longed so deeply for. I guess there really isn't any sort of redemption for a mage enslaved to fate. My mother was right about that. Hotaru, she would be my only savior. However, I cannot worry about that now; I have to watch over the intended time line.

Life goes on, but I already knew it would…it always does after all...

TBC~

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I hope you enjoyed my take on their childhood. More of it will be addressed in the actual arc two, but I thought this particular chapter would be good set up for that. What do you think? Please leave a review.


	40. Prices: Bridge 2

A/N: Well, here is the next in the line of Setsuna's view of things…also, for those of you wondering where Minako went, here she is in this chapter, you'll see why I set it up as I had, and yet, I think you'll walk away with more questions than when you walked in with. If you do, feel free to PM me, I'll be happy to go over any bits and pieces that confuse you. by the end of the 5 chapter briding arc, I hope you'll find all of the answers for why I did it this way, but I'll be happy to answer anything you currently wondered about.

This chapter lightly ties in with the "Minako's Memories." which was Minako's POV. I Remember what I said about character analysis? Well now we are going to start to delve deeper into each character slowly now that the first arc of setup is basically done. Also, reminder, if at all you find yourself confused keep in mind that Setsuna's letter is a majorly key part in everything, even if the reasons of why's and hows are yet to be stated...

I do not own Sailor Moon.

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Lonely Tales of the Gates: Part 2: Fate's Master Plan.

A lot of times people are led to wonder why things happen the way they do. Some people have the ability to feign ignorance, and, the lucky ones are able to do that until the day they die. These are the ones that have little to nothing to complain about since their life goes according to plan, well for the most part. However, for others, like the girls and myself, I regret to say that isn't a possible outcome. It never was in the first place. All good things come to an end somehow, some way. For them and me as well, that's especially true.

This leads me to keep a watchful eye on the gates. It is my job to see all goes according to plan, and this is especially true now that all of the girls are starting to fall into the cycles awakening and forgetfulness. Slowly, I'm able to see just how different each girl is. It seems as fate wasn't as cruel as it could have been, and although each one lived a hard life in various respects, they all turned out seemingly no worse for wear. Well, all of them except for one, Aino Minako.

Out of all the ones that fate could have given a seemingly lucky break, it was her. Well, the word seemingly does apply one you realize why it was merely an illusion. Her position in England prevented Minako from being near her soul mate. Now, why was that a good idea? Easy, on the battle field you need clarity, and for one such as Minako, she needed to learn her place as a Senshi before she learned the place of her heart. Fate did well to prepare Minako well for her job as the Senshi in charge of leading the ranks, however, it also twisted her arm in a way so despicable, I personally wish I could exact revenge on fate for torturing her in such ways.

"Will you two stop it already?" The gates show me that currently they are all at the shrine. "I'm sure that Usagi didn't mean it."  
"She needs to learn respect!" Rei has Usagi by the hair and I think they're fight over the book on the floor.  
"Like that?" Minako seemed to be giving Rei a look of annoyance. "I'm not sure that's exactly respectful either you know."

Minako is love. Well, rather she is emotion, She has had to learn the ways of the heart. The only way to do that was to have her fall in love. Fate did that alright…it set her up to fail, miserably. I know she was meant to be with Rei, it was a chosen fact exacted by fate for their new life. However, it seemed to also make her suffer through one of the most painful breakups I'd ever seen. It was so heart wrenching that she actually faked her own death…something I can't simply forgive fate for. She paid a price by losing her heart and I must say it changed her, greatly.

Her reunion with the Senshi awoke apart of her that I was hoping would be forgotten, sadly, it was not the case. She remembered Rei almost instantaneously, and not only the fact of who Rei was, but rather the significance of what she had been. It left the taste of uncertainty in Minako's mouth, causing her to rely on her more humanly attributes learned through her life on earth. Yes, that dumb blond act is merely that. An act, placed before the others as a ruse to help keep herself from falling into what seems like a pit of inward despair.

"Stay out of this." Rei needs to watch her temper.  
"I will when you let go of her." Minako's heart isn't in fighting today.  
"Fine." Rei sighed letting go of Usagi, but she doesn't look please. "Touch my stuff again and I'll nail you to the floor." A threat that'll never happen…  
"Thank you." Minako seems calmer now as she smiles lightly. Her mind is still busy thinking about her past life in correlation too her current one.

All of the girls are different than who they used to be. Once royalty, they are now merely girls, well at least to a degree, however, it is still a game. They are no more human than they were before, however, the ability to act as a mere teenager is their new game and to save face, they often fall into the roles they knew growing up. In Minako's defense, she isn't the only one that does this, they all exhibit behaviors unbecoming of Sailor Senshi. None are innocent, some just hide things better.

"I'm bored!" There goes Usagi…  
"Shut up." Rei's still as has an attitude…what a big surprise… sometimes I think she needs a sock crammed into her mouth. "Lazy good for nothing Usagi."  
"What!" Oh no, here comes another fight. Fate please have mercy on my soul… "Hino Rei, you take that back!"  
"Make me!" Rei really needs to lower the decibels on her screaming.  
"Make me make you!" Usagi…please don't yell…you're worse than Rei…  
"Why you little…" Great, now they're fighting again…Makoto better pull them apart soon before somebody really gets hurt.

Rei and Usagi have fights that are more out of the spirit of play than actual anger. Rei's barbs are blunted, and even if she sounds mean or rather nasty to Usagi and the others, the reality is, if Rei really wanted to do malice she has better ways to do so. The truth is that what she remembers from the past is vague and muddled. She doesn't want her memories to dictate who she is. Personally, I agree with her. She shouldn't allow that to happen, at least not yet. Acting like, well, for lack of a better term, a bitch in front of Usagi is the only way she can do so.

"You'd better go stop them…" Thank you voice of reason!  
"Are you kidding? I'm not going to get my butt kicked." Damn it Makoto…why must you let this drag on…  
"Please? I really don't want anyone to get hurt." Ami's trying again. Rei would never intentionally harm Usagi, but, they do get a bit overzealous sometimes.  
"I'm not kidding about my head hurting." Minako's readily agreeing. She doesn't want this to drag on either.

Usagi isn't as big of a crybaby as she lets on, although, truth be told, she is far more of one than she used to be. However this time around the role of the crying is reversed. Now, when she cries, normally it's a childish act, not purely heart felt tears. When she's really ready to break down, the tears come silently, most of them shed on the inside, never actually peaking out of her eyes unless the emotional flood is too much. She knows more than she lets on about the Senshi as individuals, and I think that's why she encourages the fighting with Rei.

"Oh, alright fine…" Makoto always give into Ami…It's kind of cute in its own little way. "Come on guys, enough's, enough."  
"Let me at her!" Rei's failing around, but it doesn't do much good when Makoto has her held back. "Usagi!"  
"Rei, calm down." Makoto has too firm of a grip, so Rei is pretty much defenseless, but it doesn't stop the fact that Usagi is still egging her on.  
"And you stop that." Thank god voice of reason number two decided to chime in… "I think you guys need to stop, you're giving me a headache."  
"I don't care!" Rei's really annoyed. "Stupid Usagi! Stupid idiot Usagi!" Oh Rei, the poor girl is infuriated, but she's also in tears.  
"Let's go get some fresh air…" Makoto finally dragged Rei out of the room…I was wondering when she would.

Now, the reason this contrasts so well is that it gives Makoto's personality a back seat. I know that may sound rude coming from me, but that actually is a good thing. With Rei being provoked almost constantly into a fight, Makoto isn't so guarded. Usagi and Ami are soft individuals by nature. That is blown completely out of the water when Usagi provokes Rei into a verbal warfare. The brashness Makoto feels she has, the anger and resentment for being different, the pain of loneliness is actually quelled by these simple fights. She doesn't have to fit in, or try to tone herself down into an emotional corner, not when Rei is being so overt it makes ever her overly tall form look like a meek kitten in comparison.

"I'll go see what's going on too." Minako just excused herself. Rightfully so with Rei so fired up.  
"She just doesn't get it!" Usagi's still pretty upset. "It isn't my fault! She needs to blame Mamoru!"  
"I think so too." Ami's words are only half there, her mind may be on the situation, bur her eyes are in the book. "Still, she can't help but be frustrated."

That gives Ami room to actually divert attention someplace other than her nose in a textbook. Again, Usagi is the center of everything. As the Moon Princess she fits well into the role of unifying the attention onto herself, and one of the ways she does that is by her need to be annoying. Now, as stated, Rei grew up into a very short tempered teen, not that Makoto isn't mind you, however, her ability to be calm around Usagi is astounding. Ami isn't one to open up easily given her nature; as a result, she tends to cling to calmer people. Makoto is her first choice when it comes to friends among the Senshi. Why? Because she's proven that she won't rip the smaller girl in half, and in all reality is much more sedate than the other two when she has no real reason to fly off the handle.

This again leads me to the girl who's still rather new when it comes to being around the Senshi in her new life.

Minako has a lot of Usagi's qualities, but beyond all of that, she has something Usagi doesn't have. Understanding. Fate gave her most of the past in clearly definable memories. Because of this, it's easy for her to fall into her place easily. She covers everyone. She's level headed like Ami when it really matters, but like Usagi, she has the ability to infuriate Rei without question. She understands the hardship of loss that comes with betrayal and often strives to push Makoto in ways that no one else can, that give's that girl reason to get angry, but also forces her to fall back on the one member of the team that would otherwise go run and hide. Ami constantly finds herself at Makoto's hip merely because the tall brash girl likes not having to explain herself, and naturally falls into place next to the one person who won't try to provoke her every three seconds.

Minako's memories came back for that exact reason. Fate gave her the ability to do her job, and to do it correctly. She falls into place when she's needed, be it Usagi's partner in aggravation, or the foresight of Senshi protection at its finest, she is what she is. The glue that keeps Usagi's unification together. They are sisters in heart through and through. One could not do the job alone, but together the blond dynamic duo are able to keep the inner Senshi a force nearly unbreakable.

That was why, when the battle with Beryl came into their portion of the time line they were able to succeed. The final result ended in Usagi's one wish to reset life and put it back to normal. It was a wish she was willing to give, a dream she hoped she could achieve. The reason it worked was because of the love she had. It was not the love fueled by the other Senshi, or the rest of the world. It was love cultivated by purity, a sacrifice that Usagi begged for above all else. There was no selfishness within the request, nothing for her to gain from it, and yet everything to lose.

That was why the crystal granted the request, and as it did, she broke apart the future, destroying it and the possibility of good that came along with it. She tested the barrier by breaking the unification, and a corrupt world began its motion. A calamity if her possible death caused the future to spin its web of turmoil, and that's why I must now watch as each tie within the Senshi rebuilds slowly, this time with a new threat. This one not only in the future, but also within the past.

With the Black Moon clan seeking revenge and a home to call their own, they have gone too earth, years in the past from where I sit currently. They believe that if they destroy Usagi in the past, the crystal points will take on a new direction, and they will be able to have earth for themselves…How did they know to do this? Simple within its complexity, paradox is a sick twisted thing indeed; however it is something fate uses often to correct itself.

I stand here now at the gates as I watch a boy reading a letter. He values a flower, and a part of me frowns as I realize what I did. He wants so much to live in a world that's filled with love. Nemesis isn't. He and his brother give hope and dream a try, this flower the one motivation behind it all. Wiseman is a corrupt being, and although he may have powers that are strong, he forgets one simple paradox that rules over him.

Fate will not let him succeed, and it is my job now to see to it that all is in place. With a small key in hand, the Luna-P at my side, and my orders in mind, I go off into the frozen wasteland to search and find the small girl who will help me pave way into the one paradox that no one, not even the all powerful Wiseman can beat…

This is just one moment of many that have aligned with fate's master plan...

TBC~~

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I know it may come off as confusing near the end, but you'll see why I'm doing it this way as each and every part comes together…


	41. Prices: Bridge 3

A/N: At the bottom of page for after the chapter. Please PM me if confused, and don't forget to leave a review.

I do not own Sailor Moon.

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Lonely Tales of the Gates: Part 3: Grandfather's Paradox.

You cannot go back in time to kill your own family before your actual birth, because if you did that you would cease to exist. Too bad Wiseman never thought about that little detail when he corrupted Small Lady into trying to kill her parents. It was set up to fail. Either way you look at it, he never would have been able to succeed. Even if he had killed Usagi, he would have failed, the time stream would have had altered to account for the fact that she wasn't alive in the first place. Fate would have never taken the path of Crystal Tokyo if Usagi and her Senshi had been exterminated.

That's why I sent Small Lady back in time. It was the only way to make sure fate stayed it's coarse. With Small Lady in the past, she would have had to come back to the future sooner or later. Now, here's the funny little thing about that. She wouldn't come back alone; the Sailor Senshi would ultimately follow her. If not to help her, they would have had too if they wanted to get back the crystal I told Small Lady to bring with her. Thus, as you see, by some means or another, the Sailor Senshi would have had no option but to see their possible fate. This is yet another big flaw. You should not see your fate no matter what.

I know that it seems silly, but the plan was very fool proof. Now, some may argue that Small Lady could have been killed before the future took place. That is the funny thing, even if they had killed her, it wouldn't have mattered. Why? Simple, she hadn't been born into the world during the events of the past. Even if she had been killed, it would have only negated the fact that she had gone back into the past in the first place. A time loop, if you'll allow the term. If she had been killed, there would be no real reason for Wiseman to continue his tirade, since the only real reason he came to the past in the first place was to kill Small Lady.

With Small Lady dead, he wouldn't continue because he would have either risk his own demise, or he could have changed fate entirely. Both of which he had no real intention of doing. All he wanted was to rule the future. Now, this is why all of that is interesting, if Small Lady was dead, and Usagi was alive, and he left for the future we would have seen the before spoken time loop. Why? Because guess who would be born years down the line? Small Lady.

And isn't that just the Black Moon Clan's idea gone balls up?

Anyway, as I stated, seeing your own future is bad. Fate never wants that to happen, thus, it will be changed. In some ways it will have never existed, in others the similarities will become little more than an uncertain memory that never happened. This is how it should be. What is changed and how? Well I'll leave that to fate to decide. For now, I just want to sit and watch. They are calling Small Lady names now…Chibiusa? The poor little princess, Small Lady, I wish I could be at your side once more. That's not a very nice thing to call her. I'm partially tempted to go reprimand Usagi for such a remark, but I digress…that isn't my place, and you can't blame Usagi. She doesn't know the real truth yet.

Now that the girls are starting to accept their roles again fully, I see small segments of their old personalities merge with their new ones. It seemed that When Usagi reset the time stream, she created a sort of temporal funnel. Luna activated that funnel by reawakening the other Senshi. It's merely another paradox, nothing more, nothing less. Anyway, I find it nice that the girls are starting to become more complete.

Rei's still a hot head, but…she's more…docile, yes, that would be the right word. Especially in regards to Usagi. Now don't get me wrong, Rei's still got that bite she's ever famous for having, but she's starting to become more caring and loving towards Usagi. I don't think it's in a sisterly light either. She smiles, she blushes, and I think that a small part of her finds an attraction for the princess. I don't blame her, but it does cause problems. Also, the sort of nesting instinct she's got for Small Lady is almost too amusing for her own good. She seems to have filled the void of Small Lady's mother inadvertently…I wonder if that has anything to do with a change in the time line…

Or perhaps when Usagi was frozen into the crystal in the now not possible future, Rei took on the role of raising her and this is just a temporal feedback loop…either way, it's an interesting thing to think about. Whatever may be going on with Rei is a slight mystery. I may not be able to figure it out, but I'm not the only one with my eye on Rei. Minako notices too.

Rei's feelings are misplaced of course. No matter how deeply she may feel for Usagi, or motherly she may be to Small Lady, her heart and soul belong to Minako. The blond sees this, along with the torrent of confusion that adds onto Rei's already raging temperament. Usagi isn't completely dumb, and still tries to maintain the fighting, if only to help keep up a barrier. One both she and Rei cannot pass. It's a wall, they both know it, but I think Minako is happy that both Usagi and Rei continue to keep it up. As long as they keep up the playful fighting, neither of them will pass into a territory they don't belong in.

For that we can all be thankful.

Still Usagi is now starting to give Rei off color looks. I'll admit, I think Usagi's troubled by something regarding Rei, but if it's anything important, it'll somehow need to work itself out. Rei actually isn't the most interesting person to take note of at the moment. Minako, and Usagi aren't very interesting either, although, admittedly they do fall higher on the list than Rei. Makoto and Ami are merely who and what they are… nothing overly new to report, as of yet anyway.

No, my current Senshi of interest as it were, is actually Hotaru. This is a very intriguing notion considering she should be dead, however I laugh in the face of fate as in wines like a petulant child. I may not be able to disrupted fate, but Usagi can very easily, and, happened to do that by accident. Despite the wave of nausea I feel due to fate wishing to show its displeasure, I can't help but want to tease it, after all, fate should have been able to control a simple princess, right?

I guess even the almighty and ever powerful fate can have its hypothetical foot shoved into its mouth. Heh…stupid fate is stupid…it occurs to me that I should not be taking such pleasure in taunting my keeper, but this is just too damn funny. I don't care what fate does to paradox this, it was clearly never planned to happen…if I wasn't afraid of what it might do to me, I'd laugh right into the gate's face…again, I come to note doing that is likely a very bad idea…

Anyway, as you can guess, when Usagi reset time during the fight with Beryl, she also created a small accident. Hotaru is now in the world, and has a rather obscure aging pattern. It's not the Senshi aging pattern I'm used to, but it's almost as if she was reset into this world at the age she died in, which was roughly the age of six or seven in her past life…the reason this is odd, is that a new enemy is going to make itself known. Not to mention the little detail that Hotaru wasn't even supposed to be born for a few more years…Let's just say that I really hate fate right about now.

Besides the fact that the girl is very ill, had an almost near death experience, and has no idea of her body's origin, she's still got a very poor quality of life. She's still an outcast; hated by her peers, granted they can't kill her this time around…I'm sure it's not any less traumatic than before. The illness in her body is painful, and let's not forget the fact she considers herself an inward freak…that's fully understandable, I mean, most normal little girls don't spout raw power from their fingertips. I would be more worried if she wasn't fearful of herself.

In any case, none of this is sitting well, and now I've been given orders that really piss me off, and that's putting the matter lightly. They say to deceive your enemies you must deceive the best of friends and loved ones first, however, this is just a bit much. To kill Hotaru? Is that really what fate has in store? Well, if that is what fate wants me to do, I guess I can play that game. Honestly, I don't think fate wants her to die by my hands, or by anyone else really.

Rather I think this is its failed idea to unify what has been shattered for many, many years.

In any case, there is one positive for the entirety of the negative…I'll be with my family again in the time line most fitting, at least for a short while. Sadly, I won't be there to see it through. I'll need to trust in the Senshi to accomplish the finality of what fate has in store for Hotaru, but, I can't imagine failure to be an option…

After all Wiseman failed right? Otherwise if he had won, Small Lady wouldn't be going back to the future that I am now leaving. I don't have to worry, I'll be seeing her soon enough…she'll be back sooner than anyone really realizes, and, life will continue to go on...this is how it should be.

TBC~

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A/N: for those that care. Yes, I know, no dialogue, but this chapter was mostly to go over a few of the paradoxes that I feel like that anime failed to cover properly. For those of you who are lost by the complexity (completely understandable with all of the jumping) below is what just went on between Arc 1 and Arc 2 of the cannon series that I portrayed.

*Usagi killed Beryl resetting time to normal.  
*In doing this she unlocked Hotaru causing her to now exist where she shouldn't have. She is ill like in the 3rd season.  
*Meanwhile since we do not know Hotaru exists yet, Wiseman is creating a ruckus and attacks earth with the Black Moon Clan.  
*When he corrupted Chibiusa he didn't think about the fact that Chibiusa couldn't have killed Usagi because then that future wouldn't have existed.  
*When Chibiusa goes back to the future, Setsuna is sent to earth to reunite the Senshi (It is implied heavily that it is at this time she must locate and work with the other Outer Senshi) and destroy Hotaru before another calamity can strike.

Anyway, that's how I see events playing out if you really think about it. It seems like the first season when it merges into the second season (Doom tree arc) is where the odd Hotaru integer we don't see, likely took place. Then the second season comes about into the merger of the third season where we meet the Outer Senshi. Feel free to PM me if you are confused.


	42. Prices: Bridge 4

A/N: Well, for those of you still following, here's the next bridging chapter that takes place roughly around the 3rd season, once again discussing stuff that we either didn't see, or never thought to ask about. Yeah, it's short, but that's because season 3 is one of the most pivotal and complex arcs, and it is one that will be most addressed within the next arc of the story when character developments take a different turn.

I do not own Sailor Moon.

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Lonely Tales of the Gates: Part 4: Ideals of life.

Well, needless to say I have largely different views than my fellow comrades. This is in part of a few particular things. One, I have more general knowledge than they do at any given time. Two, I've already gone through hardship, and now I understand slightly why my mother remained as withdrawn as she did, I now have learned to practice what she preached. I regret to say, she was right, it is easier if you detach yourself, but, it is also more painful…the third reason?

Simple, I have no free will; I have no real reason to fight for anything unless fate tells me to do so. Other than that, I have learned that my allegiance matters not. True we of the Outer Senshi have other reasons for being, but that does not mean we cannot pick and choose our battles, well, that is, unless you're me. That's the difference between us Outer Senshi. We all have other reasons to live and survive. Haruka and Michiru both must protect the solar system from invasion, I guard the gates, and Hotaru…if she awakens that is, can call her powers for her own whims, usually at the expense of all else.

The Inner Senshi can only do what free time allows. Other than that, they must serve Usagi. Granted, it does help that they treat her more like a best friend than a women they must serve, just as she treats them as equals instead of servants ordered to guard her until the day they cease to live. Still, the fact remains they are there to protect and serve, nothing more than that. You could say that deep down, that fact is a blessing.

They have wants and needs, but unlike my bind to fate, Usagi will provide for them what she can. Even in her selfishness, she is the most giving, ever wise, always loving woman…even if she doesn't look it. While it may be true that she can't give them everything, or allow them normal freedom of a human, she will always do what she can to ensure that the people she considers friends and family are happy.

Principles. Each and every Senshi has them, and all are what would be easily considered vastly different. The end justifies the means for all of us, however, it's the ideal of how the end result happens that will make or break us as a team. Fate also has a set of questionable actions, and I'll be the first to admit that the tests it puts us through aren't easy. They aren't even logical half of the time, at least not in my eyes.

It would have saved face if I could have told Haruka and Michiru that they were the true owners of the talismans. It also would have been emotionally easier on Usagi and the others if I could have spoke at great length of what would happen within that particular segment in time. That our princess was indeed our guiding light and that Hotaru was not our direct primary target. How nice it would have been if I could have held Chibiusa in my arms and promised her she would be alright, that she would live through the trials ahead without fail. To console Hotaru through all of her pain.

Sadly, fate does not allow such breaches in conduct. You see, many times I have to equate fate into something people understand. An ocean or a spiders web come to mind as simplistic ways to explain, however, that is not always the case. Thought most of the time I can be a mage and do my job without fear, fate does send curve balls my way. Some things aren't told to me truthfully, other times I'm forced to make a best guess at what I feel may be true, however I walk as blindly as those girls. Yes, I know time, but that does not mean I know their actions.

I know of fate and how it works, however just as a butterfly flaps its wings, people move forward in life. Sometimes their decisions influence them, and, as a result their actions cause negativity. Haruka and Michiru were gifted the beautiful task of finding the talismans, however, they failed to realize that they held them within their hearts. As a result the malice behind good intentions was the price they inadvertently paid.

The same can be said for any of the Sailor Senshi. It was perhaps in this point in their lives where they felt conflicted the most. Minako felt an inward struggle within herself. Not feeling pure enough, good enough for her fellow Sailor Senshi, she attempted to make herself seem something she was not. People of Venus are jealous, selfish creatures by nature. I think deep down part of that hurt was caused by not having felt loved by the people that mattered most. Her struggle was largely emotional just as the past repeated her feelings of loss, remorse, anger, vanity and love.

Rei's battle had to do with her premonitions. By and large, they consumed her entire being deeply and caused her to lose sleep at night and inward faith within herself. In doing so, I think she harmed people unknowingly. The boy at the shrine, I cannot remember his name, attempted to leave the shrine because of her pain and misunderstanding. Makoto felt concern for Rei hiding things and over all; I can safely say that the loss of faith Rei had in herself created the snowball effect of others around her. She didn't offer guidance to those who needed it and refused to find any for herself.

Ami's issues were inward. Lost, lonely, she acted as her own woman and was happy to be so. Makoto was much the same and I think Ami's hiding some…inward feeling for Makoto. I myself can't help but feel anger for that. Even so, my task comes first. Makoto deserves happiness, although, I cannot deny I wish she would be happy with me. It is likely for the best. According to this time line I'm far older. Not that it stopped us before, but… well, anyway, the fact is although fate guides life and has wishes, it cannot control the people within its grasp. Thus, fate can only do so much.

We all walk along in life based on our actions as individuals, and as stated before, my shackles prevent me from doing too much, but of this I can assure, during the events that provoked this most trying time among us, I find that it is alright for things to continue their spiral downward into the pit of seeming destruction. I will not speak, and I will wait. Within this fate will give all of us a bright future, if only we could move past the road blocks preventing us from moving forward.

In the end, I gave up my family in another abuse of time, thus sending me back into my abyss where I belong for a while longer. Haruka and Michiru left to go off on their own, as is expected, and the inner Senshi continue life to the best of their ability. It may have not seemed like a grand plan, but I know in my heart that it was for the best. Chibiusa will spend more time with Usagi, and she will grow strong, something I will only be allowed to watch from afar.

Someday, I hope I can achieve a happy life. One filled with laughter and joyous sounds that bring music to the world of the living, but for now I'm also happy that I can see that baby smile. That Hotaru, the little girl she was meant to be. Yes…it is the look of innocence in her eyes. She lives as a baby once again, it's that look that tells me everything will be alright one day. It may not be perfection…but at least we will all be ok…that's all I ask.

As for right now, we will merely undergo more tests of will. One after another after another we will struggle for that fate preordained for hope and promise. It gave us nothing more than that. Yet, fate never really gave us anything more than that.

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TBC~~ Yes I know. it was short, but like I said, most of the emotional issues of this arc will be addressed later.


	43. Prices: Bridge 5

A/N: Sorry for the delay on updates, as you know, classes are a killer, I hope to get back into my normal swing soon. If possible, if I'm lucky, that will be in about a few more weeks... tonight will be my major update night for the week since I had the day off, but you guys will need to sit tight since I don't have much time atm to be doing fast updates.

In the meantime, I have a small update for you.

I do not own Sailor Moon.

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Lonely Tales of the Gates: Part 5: Dreams Do Come True.

The dreams of untainted purity. Be it from a mothers love, or children with wishes of candy, ponies, meeting dinosaurs, flying to the moon, becoming a movie star, or doing,...well, whatever else comes to mind in the hopes and dreams of people, one thing will always remain true. It's not overt, but it's not hidden. It's common sense.

Most of these things are only so great, because they are a dream. Never do they become a reality, so the one who wishes such things can make it as great and far fetched, or as simple and logical as they may want. In the end however, they are merely wants that could never be granted. The mere impossibility of everything is what makes it great in the first place. The dreams can reach far above even the heavens, these dreams are so pure, so vast, so wonderful, that it becomes a beautiful dream by the whims of the soul who wished for it.

While it is true anyone could have something like that, very few strive to attain it. All of the rest? They suffer from the nightmares. The truth and knowledge that it could go wrong will always remain, because of that, they find themselves holding back, happy where their dream is, unwilling to see the heavens where their dreams are so brightly shunning above. They will stay their place, and at that point you could say that the dreams stay trapped, and thus, no longer beautiful.

Within this, you'll find your problem. A dream that is truly beautiful has it's dark moments, has the times you want to cry, has the times you'd like to smile. A truly beautiful dream is one in which you realize the inner reality of your soul, one of impurity seeking the purity and salvation found only in happiness. Hoping and striving are only the doors that open a sort of lock. The most beautiful dreams are only so because of acceptance of the bad times, as well as the good.

That was why Small Lady got the ability to be the holder of Pegasus. It wasn't because she dreamed up only fantasies. Her dreams could become nightmares that frightened her deeply, they could be vast rolling plains filled with flowers and bright sunshine. they could be realities she had yet to face and trials hard to overcome.

However, no matter what dream she would fall asleep by, at night it was her true wish to see and protect that mythical creature. It was truly believing she could see him that made her beautiful dream a wonderful reality, despite the hardships she faced. It was her truest wish that was granted...to be able to believe in the impossible...

I believe it was because she had been able too before, back when she had to trust Usagi for the first time. When she had to believe that her mother would be saved by the Sailor Senshi, or when she had to have faith in Hotaru...it was those times that gave her the strength to believe in herself and her pure dreams filled with light and hope. Those times were very dark for Small Lady and ultimately I believe that it was that darkness that forced her into light.

Fate always does things for a reason, and this was no exception. I've always said, follow your heart, your dreams, and the letter I had giving the girls as children helped pave the way to the dreamers that turned them into Senshi, and ultimately brought them here...to this day. It was their dreams that made them strong.

Makoto dreamed of a family...she has what she thought to be impossible.  
Ami dreamed life was somewhere other than earth...it is...that is simple fact.  
Usagi wanted to meet a dashing prince...Mamoru is hers and hers alone.  
Minako wished to see the one she loved so dearly long ago...Rei is by her side.  
Rei...she wished for something to believe in...Usagi has given her that...

Hotaru will have a chance at a life that may not be normal, but, it will be life none the less...Haruka and Michiru, they wished so dearly for someone out there to understand them...they have each other if nothing else.

Small Lady met a friend...learned about love, and on top of all of that, she's like her mother. Stubborn, all or nothing that's how it must be. If she can not have everyone she loves near her, she will be saddened and hurt, she will fight for what she wants, and in the end, she will strive to get it...with all of her loved ones following her.

And I...well, what I have isn't easy to explain...but I guess you can say I have to bide my time...fate gave me what I wanted. I wanted Hotaru to live, and ultimately, she will if you don't count a few close calls in the future awaiting us. We will be fine, and life...it will be bright.

Dreams are attainable, and as you can see, though they aren't perfect, we did reach them...but that's why they aren't dreams, because beautiful dreams are perfect and flawless, even in the worst of times... It's the imperfection of fate, the trials and errors that make reality the furthest is can possibly be from a dream.

Then again, isn't that what lets you know it's real in the first place?

TBC~~~~~

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Please leave a review and let me know what you think. Only one more chapter and then we move on to the second arc of the fiction...I personally can't wait, I have so much planned you have no idea...


	44. Prices: Bridge 6

A/N: Last part of the bridging from past into present.

I do not own Sailor moon.

Lonely Tales of the Gates: Part 6: Reflections Across Time

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All of the past anguish, and hopes for a future bring us down the road to these days of calm. Days when once again I'm reunited with my happy little family. All is not only right with the world and with fate, it is also ideal. That is a word I rarely use, however that is what it is. No other word would fit. Life isn't perfect, we still live as the flawed souls that we are. No, we are only in an ideal moment in fate. One where many things will be built and chances will be earned.

Ideal is a moment when we have control of the elements that shape our lives, and right now is one of those times. Fate plays no real role since it will not actually take place until the future, and life, despite having dropped five different bombshells over the past few years, has given us a reprieve from all the havoc it seems to induce on any given day. Within this, time slowly comes together with the dreams and plans that we, as individuals can seek out freely.

Because we no longer need to fight as warriors, now is an opportune time to grow as the people we will become. A human future is not an option, so sadly some goals will need to be replaced, and among this new dreams and hopes must be forged, this however isn't a bad thing. It isn't overtly good either, but rather I boarders on the neutrality that will shape us into powerful warriors of love and justice of a bright future, or it will make us into the cynical creatures of long distant pasts and presents. Sadly, not all of us have a way to a happy ending, and not all of us have the way paved for us in stone. Some of us will be left a sad void within the brightness, but as I said that's the reality behind the dreams.

Each Senshi has grown, but within that, we have also lost part of our innocence. I, myself for example understand that I cannot fight my binds as I used to be able, and with some of the past memories coming back into the grim detail, not all of us will be able to stomach what had to be done. Faith will be questioned, as will our alignment to duty. I have many regrets I cannot take back, I have many more that I fear will prove to further haunt me as my life progresses. Sadly, that is part of my bond to fate in and of itself.

Minako is much the same. She could speak, but what would she destroy by saying those things. Her memories are clear as crystal, and having stood beside Rei long enough, she now wants what they used to have. Without a reason like battle to hold her back, Minako will be forced with a choice. For some time I assume she will be conflicted upon if she should make her move, or to let sleeping pasts lie. Either way, Rei will remember in vivid detail everything that went on, and when she does, and once it starts to rebuild, I have a feeling the only one that will be able to help Rei will be the blond herself.

Then you have Ami, who's future is most bleak for quite a long time. Part of this is due to Makoto and the feelings that Ami would never act on, just like in the past, however without Zoisite around, no one will be there for her. Makoto will not make a move on Ami, and the cards are in my hands. That's what I fear may come back to haunt me. I loved her, greatly, but what happens when fate takes me away again. It will happen? Could I bear to hurt Makoto again like that? Would she be happier with Ami? I could question this all day, and no matter what I ask for answers Fate could be giving me half truths and lies, I know this, and this, I can not late what the gates show me influence that choice. It must come purely from the heart.

Usagi will have hard times too. Her family will change, her wedding will occur sometime within the few years, and before all of that, she must be on good terms with Mamoru. It won't be easy after all that's happened, but then again, love never is. We must have faith, blindly trusting them to do what is best, but, then the question is, will Usagi be happy following fate now that she's had the taste of defying it? I wonder about that, but again, I do not have that answer.

Life will continue on, but for now, in these fleeting years of total and complete calm, we can have a taste of being simple humans...no one knows what a gift it is, for as quickly as it has come, it will leave just as soon. For someone destined to live elongated lives, no one, not even myself has an idea what it means, although, I think, that looking back to yesterday, we envied earth, just as they envied us.

I cannot say what will happen for sure, I wish I has some type of answer, but for now I have been shunned by the very gates I protect. The only thing I know now, is that fate will take its path by the choices in our hearts. How we act, what we say, what we do, this will be what makes fate decide the next trial we must overcome. I pray that we will see a bright future, but I am as blind to time as anyone else, so only what fate decides will tell...

I hate being so powerless, but perhaps in this way, I finally understand why Earth hated us in the first place.

TBC~~~

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This concludes the set up chapters. Arc Two will be next. I hope to see you there. :) Plenty more fiction left to go... and I do mean plenty...


	45. Arc 2, Chapter 1

A/N: So, yeah, the long awaited arc 2 is here. Thank you all for following this fiction and reading so far into it, since I know this is by no means a short fiction to overcome. Although this is very much going to be Rei/Minako pairing, we will see the other characters play deeper roles, and Haruka and Michiru will begin to get their stories fleshed out here in the second arc as well, you know their past, so let's see where it's taken them...

Not much to say except please read and review.

I do not own Sailor Moon.

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Arc 2: Chapter 1: Lament of Flame.

"Battle...you were a warrior...and like a warrior you protected your people with pride." A voice called out into an empty room from the fire blazing with intense heat it would rarely spike too. Though it was seemingly impossible, this soul was of an element, and it was one that called back, seeking it's true master. "You were an honorable warrior. Sadly, you and I are no longer attuned, and your peaceful life has raised you well...but, Hino Rei, mark my words and heed my call. You live so simply only because part of you wishes not to accept me. You are happy not to pick up the blade and the fire that so scorches your inner pain. No matter how much it hurts, you still refuse me."

Though the voice was in an empty room didn't mean it went unheard. No...not by a long shot. The person it spoke too was merely asleep, and could hear each and every word, and also reply. "I do not refuse you. I simply shall not relinquish my control. I am not who I was, and I refuse to become that person. I'm not a barbarian. I'm not...I'm not her...I'm not you."

"Life is a doubled edged sword, this was something father taught you well. Father showed you what it meant to lose loved ones and to still stand tall. You were a proud Martian within my memory, and you are right. You are not a barbarian, so stop thinking so ill towards the power you command." Her voice was similar, if not older than her, likely by only a few years. Although, honestly speaking, the person sounded withered by pain and suffering. It was very hard to accept that this voice was her. A her from the past.

"Dad never cared." Rei snapped back within the depth of sleep. "Dad was never around. Grandpa was...but dad wasn't."

"He is still the same man Rei, although I agree he has dishonored the Martian name within the life you lead and the breaths you take. However, the man I knew, while harsh, was a great man, and for what it was worth, he was a wonderful father for you. In this life you see little proof, but if you would just accept me back you'd see what a wonderful life it was back then."

"Yes, wonderful until we all apparently died." Rei bit out at what was likely part of her soul. "You tell me these things, but I keep telling you I want my own memories back! I want to know on my own, how can I know you're the truth. How can I know you won't feed me lies and deceit?"

"I won't lie to my body you idiot. I'm twenty years old, only three years your senior, the age I'm at is the age of death, however at the age of sixteen, the fall had barely begun. Just because the crystal told you many things, there is much left unsaid and undone. Haven't you ever wondered why Sailor Saturn destroyed each and every living life form including herself? Haven't you ever thought that just perhaps the parts of your memory are faulty. Do you remember the exact age you died? Do you remember what happened after you were sealed to be reborn? The queen was killed when she sealed you, so how the hell could she know all? How could the crystal give her all of the perfect answers? Ask yourself this before you dare question me."

"I will question what I want." Rei spat back with vengeance.

"This bickering will get us no place." The older voice sighed. "You must dress, help your grandfather, and then be off to school, that is what must happen. I will come calling again next you find sleep, I am not through speaking with you..."

As the fire flickered to a lower temperature, Rei slowly awoke from another all night verbal warfare. She hated this...what ever this was...it just didn't make sense. Everything she thought she knew, every small tidbit, every almost there answer...it seemed to be lost in the torrent. Then there were the questions, she had more to ask, less to answer, each and every night more and more words resounded in her head as if the gods themselves were pouring these things in her mind.

The morning air was cool and crisp as the crows surrounding the shrine pecked at the seed strewn on the grown. The song birds perched in the branches of the tree chirped somewhat noisily, and over all it was you normal early morning. Calm, peaceful, and yet very foreboding. Not in a bad way, but in such a manner that foretells that all ideals of peace and quiet will fly out the window as soon as the people awake from their beds. School for children, work for adults, and the not to be forgotten daily ruckus that was a city on any given day.

Granted, this was a normality, not something to worry over, and not something to unleash wrath upon, it was clear that one, Hino Rei, was rather annoyed at the waning of dawn into day. Perhaps it was her lack of restful sleep lately, or the fact that her melancholy was something left unspoken...it could be the cool in the air, even when the sun rose, or in all likelihood it was the fact that her mind was filled with things. Dreams...if she could call them that. It wasn't uncommon, Rei knew this, and yet in the back of her mind she couldn't escape the feeling that something in her life was missing. It was something more dear to her than she could explain, but, she was still happy.

It made little sense. She was sad, but she wasn't sad. She wanted to release pent up anger, but she wasn't angry because there was no reason for such malice. She was feeling more edgy lately and had taken up running and other overtly challenging workouts to make up for the feeling of restlessness that she wasn't known for having. She felt different, not bad, most certainly not good, but just, off. Yes, that was it...off was the perfect description.

Still, she sighed, dressing in her robes and went about doing her chores. In her mind she could hear the soft tunes of a piano playing, it was something her mother did, although she wasn't very good, and Rei had taken up the same hobby in spare time. Placing her broom to the side she began to walk across to the storage shed where she had it set up on a few planks of wood. Closing her eyes she recalled the piece. It soothed her so to hear the wonderful sounds in such a manner. It made her smile with her fingers fluttered across the keys. It wasn't a second nature, and on occasion, her finger would miss a note, memory and skill being two very different things, but for her it was something she remembered as a small child.

"I'll never be as good as mom was." She sighed, powering down the battery run device and sat down on the box marked and labeled for weddings knowing it was just cloths among other things. One of the crows known for hovering around the shrine pecked at the door before hopping over to it's would be master. She looked at the bird of black wings and merely shook her head. "Sorry, I don't have any food for you right now." The bird fluttered at she bent down to pet it, and watch as it skipped away. "I wonder what mom would say if she saw me now."

"I'd assume she'd ask why you seem to fancy hiding in the storage shed." An elderly voice replied softly. "Then she would likely sit down with you and wait until you told her what the matter was." Grandfather Hino took out a handkerchief, removing the sweat from his bald head as he smiled. "However, your mother also went off hiding in here, or other places when she didn't want to be found."

"I'm fine." Rei's smile matched his. Soft, serene, and yet, it lacked the simple joy he had. "I'm just thinking, that's all."  
"Your mother used to think a lot too." He nodded, they were so very much alike. "I would often find her in odd places, but that isn't an answer."  
"Nothing." Rei stood, dusting herself off. "Nothings wrong, I've just been...pensive recently."  
"Perhaps the fire would best guide you?" He offered in hopes of cheering her up.  
"Sadly, I don't think the fire has an answer for me this time." She answered, again watching her crows peck the ground. "At least not one I can accept."

"If that is indeed the case, then you might already hold the answer within you." Her grandfather answered in his knowing, and very vague way. "One thing I've come to learn in my old age is that if you talk to yourself, speak to your heart, you'll sometimes find the best answers you could ever hope for right in front of you." His gaze caught a young woman walking up the steps and he waved at her. "I have other guidance to give Rei, but, should you ever need a different viewpoint for an answer, it can't hurt to ask those you love and trust too."

He scampered off then, after the woman who was currently walking amongst the grounds no doubt. "Thank you grandpa, I know that, but sometimes it is nice to hear it...then again, that could also be the entire problem." She busied herself with her sweeping and then went off into the back to take out the trash. Every little thing was something she found beauty in as she aged and looking at the trash wasn't any different. Things thrown away, considered useless found a value in her eyes. A reason that they were there, and sadly she allowed a tear to slip down her cheek. When had her life become what it was.

Where did the days of her younger, more vibrant soul fly off too? Was it carried away by a crow? Was it taken away when she had lost one of her battles? Was it sapped away so slowly she didn't know it was leaving her? She didn't even know what the 'it' was...only that she missed the comfort that she had. The things and life she once knew. It wasn't as if she could say she was fully alright with everything, however, being a Senshi wasn't ever easy. Just like everything else, she had just assumed it too would pass, and she would find her inner peace once again...too bad that wasn't what had occurred.

The voice that called to her in her sleep seemed to know something. Answers and questions came in abundance from the mouth of what Rei had come to call a missing part of her soul, however, she didn't find it important that she attune with her old self. She was a sailor Senshi of the here and the now, not the past. Her entire goal was to not live in the past but to make a future, and to do that she needed to be strong, if she had lost her life before hadn't she been weak? Partly she wondered that.

Looking at her wrist, she meandered over to her room and dressed for school. It was just another day in her life, and this vision, soul or whoever it was would pass. Nothing was around forever and Rei had to hope if she fought away her past with a stick long enough it would take the hint and go back from when it came. Emotions were silly like that. She shook her head to clear her mind, thinking too deeply wouldn't help. She had to meet her friends for school and then suffer through a three hour study group and then a Senshi meeting, if she was unlucky she would also serve dinner at her place, and finally, after the sun set she would find solace again...

Yes, clearly today, just like every other day, she was too busy to think about the past in the first place...so, why did it even come back? She wished to never really know.

TBC~~~

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Please leave a Review. I hope you liked the start of Arc 2.


	46. Arc 2, Chapter 2

A/N: Well, now that arc 2 is under way, I've gotta say, I'm excited. I agree we had a slow start, but trust me, it will be worth the wait.

I do not own Sailor Moon.

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Arc 2: Chapter 2: Fluid Powers.

"Hey! That was the last cookie!" The bark came from Rei. Glad that the weekend had come quickly, she and the others had decided to get together for non Senshi reasons. Minako nabbed the last brownie and that time Rei sighed in defeat. "You'd think since this was my room I'd get the last something."

"Aw, poor Rei." Minako's look from thoughtful to playful. "Want to share?" The gleam in her blue eyes reflected the joking manner, and yet everyone other than Rei could tell head on that part of her inflection was being serous. "Here, have a taste..." Holding out the brownie innocently enough, few would be able to tell the pain in her eyes when Rei had refused her.

This was life was like now for the Senshi. Granted, they weren't the worst of days, but to say that they were the best was a total understatement. "Can we just go back to the topic at hand, please?" Although they were Senshi first and normal humans later, this current meeting had to do with the latter situation. All of their eyes went back to Usagi as she continued to look mournfully at her drink.

"Your dad can't know everything, so I think he's just uptight because of that. If he knew what we knew, I don't think he would be so annoyed about Mamoru." Makoto threw in. There was one advantage to being an orphan, even if she didn't see it as a good thing most of the time. "But still, if an angry father ever chased me out of the house with a kitchen knife I'd be freaked out too."

"He's just too overprotective." Usagi smiled softly. "I know he means well, but Mamoru isn't going to hurt me."  
"He has before." Rei commented dryly, earning her a round of looks. "What? He has and you can't deny it."  
"That may be, however in each of those situations, he hadn't had any other choice at the time." Ami, always rational...  
"Yeah, and besides Rei, love hurts, can't you tell?" The somberness tone in Minako's voice broke the attention from Usagi away.

"Alright? What's eating you now?" Rei sighed out giving a sideways glance to the blond next too her. "Don't tell me you've gotten all soft now just because you haven't had a decent date since...well..." Rei cut herself off. Any mention of the trio of lights caused a pang of sadness among them. Rei couldn't say she loved or even held attraction for them like a few others had, but in the end they had helped keep Usagi safe and had filled a void for her when Mamoru wasn't able. Rei owed them respect for that at least.

"You of all people should know that wasn't it." Minako whispered out, changing the course of the current mood in the conversation. There were a lot of things left unspoken among the Senshi, however that voice had Rei halted from the moment it slipped past her lips.

Usagi took in the exchange. Now wasn't the time to be around the two of them when that particular tone came around. Ami had the foresight to know that same basic idea, and was quietly packing her things, giving Makoto the hint to do the same. The three left without so much as a goodbye as Rei sat frozen within herself. Minako's eyes were reading into her, making her blood run cold in confusion.

"Don't do that." Rei replied in kind. The same tone, the same somber situation. Minako had become vocal in her worry, her disapproval, and many other things. Most on the outside chalked it up to simply being teens with raging hormones, but any of the Senshi knew it was more than simply that. "Don't give me that look damn it." Rei stood turning her head away, this tension was insane. Minako had an aura that was so familiar now, and yet so far away.

"What's the matter Rei?" Minako's other voice. That older voice of a woman in the past. All of the Senshi who had accepted their past had a voice, this voice was older, more understanding, more vibrant, and with it came a power unlike any other. A power of a planet and their people. It was advanced, but it was also unnerving. Minako could feel her, and she felt so very sick. "Can't take it? Doesn't it make you feel so disgusting, so vile that I can read it now." Minako spat. God she hated this feeling. She hated that she knew. "Face it. You love her don't you. You love her and that's why you can't take it?"

"I don't love anyone." Rei snapped back. "Stop fishing around, your making me want to puke."  
"Then do it Rei, because I can't stop it, I can't control it." Minako held her own head and Rei finally understood what was happening.  
"This never happened before, and now... damn it I can't take this shit." She was angry, cursing at the fact she felt so weak. "Minako, you need to stop it."  
"I told you I can't!" The blond grunted in pain. She couldn't hold in the vomit as she feel to her knees, powerless to help Rei as both lost consciousness.

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"You still can't control it can you..." it was a statement. She knew, the voice, her guide already knew the problem. "You poor creature. So very much like me, and yet, you seem unable to do what I could. You need to harness that strength you have."

"I don't see why." Minako had accepted her true nature a short while after arriving back in Japan, and along with it came parts of her memories. A second personality soon followed, one raised of her people. These powers were her own at one time, however those of Earth and those of Venus were vastly different. "You said I'd be able to control it."

"In time you will." Minako allowed the white light over take her as she stood in the ruins of her now fallen planet. This was the past, but it was also a frozen moment in time, namely, it was a moment just before the end of existence as she had known it. "As I told you, when I was a small child I wasn't able to control it, but back then I had parents who could, and they contained my powers when I was unable. You however, are no more than an Earthling now. I shouldn't have thought you ready, but even if you had waited, it would still be the same."

"I keep hurting her and she doesn't respond to me." Minako cried softly. "She refuses to take anything I say seriously and it hurts so damn much that now I'm jetting it out at her. Why is this? I can feel my power and I can feel hers too...and everyone else too...WHY! I don't get it!" She crumpled down, she was in pain even through sleep. "Why does she love her...why does she long for Usagi so much?"

"I don't think she does..." Her older, wiser voice spoke gently, seeing through the veil of pain. "She's safe. Usagi is who she can never have, and thus, she's safe to love her."  
I still don't believe-" Her older voice cut Minako off mid speech.  
"She loved you, and still does." The wisdom was hard to deny.  
"But I can't believe that. I see no reason to hold that hope anymore." Still, emotions didn't work like logic did.

"Minako, listen to me. You have the memories I gave you. They aren't changed or altered in any way. You know those of each planet had a different power, but among humans the inbreeding among them finally muted the powers into nothing. What you must understand that the humans were given no actual means to understand or control their power, even if it is there. Why do you think some are of high intellect like Ami's mother? Why do you think Rei's grandfather has the ability to have faith like those of Martians in this life?"

"I don't know." Minako shook her head. "If I knew then I could be a good leader. I could deal with this because I should be the first one to endure and master this power. I can't expect them to have to go through it if I can't...it's not right."

"Aphrodite save me now." Her older self sighed in pity. "You're more like me than I care to admit, but the fact is, you aren't raised to understand this power. You can't control it any more than I could control Rei when she finally cut loose the first time. I'll give you the facts clean cut, not because I want to hand you answers to do not yet fully deserve, but because I believe you would never be able to deserve them. You'd give up before then, and the only reason I know this is because you are too much like me in spirit."

She pulled forth the sword of Venus. "This sword made me a fighter, but I was no Martian. Sure I had the skill to stand my ground, but I was in no way near Rei's expertise. Still, because I wanted to better myself, further myself in any way I could, and even with her training, I just didn't fit the mold. However, I did learn one thing. When earth fought us, that war was powerful, more powerful than our kingdom, and now after reflections and what you say, it makes sense as too why."

She knelt down to Minako's level, and cast aside the sword. "It is because the values of Venus, were ours alone. The human power was muddled because over time they had no use for such things. They were at one time refugees not wanting to fight our galactic battles, I bet over many years they shunned their power, and thus when those who could wield it finally passed on, so did the ability to awaken and utilize the powers properly. However, you can utilize it, and since you are a human, your bloodline is like Rei's was in the past, it is a merger in planets without a doubt. Because of this, you feel the power of others, and your body cannot yet handle it."

"But I'm only Sailor Venus right?" Minako questioned. She couldn't believe it. She believed in her powers, but that was second nature to her. "I can't possibly be able to use other powers if Venus is the power I wield right? It would be impossible...no way. I wouldn't be able to use the powers of others and they shouldn't be able to use mine. And this attuning is beyond painful. Who would want to go through with it?"

"You need your rest, so it would be best if I not bog you down with more things to worry about, however, I will answer that by simply saying that yes, Venus is the power you can wield with ease, however, that may be due in part to the fact that apart of yourself, is also apart of me, the princess of the old planet. I would bet the same goes for the others, however your human nature had opened doors, and as a leader, had I had that ability, I would seek out that strength to find out if it was worth attaining more."

"Why would we want to do that if we don't even know the risks involved?" Minako wasn't through yet, but her older self, her old memory was very much worried for her well being.

"Rest now Minako. It will have done little good to tell you what I have if you will allow another coma like state to overtake you. Trust me when I say that it isn't very helpful when you can not escape your own protective void." The memory walked off, and so with it the vision went away too, and once again Minako felt the fade of what she knew would be restful sleep.

TBC~~~

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Well, what did you think of this? Leave a review and let me know...


	47. Arc 2, Chapter 3

A/N: Please read and review. Also, something new in this chapter. I hope you like it, please read and review.

I do not own Sailor Moon.

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Arc 2: Chapter 3: Souls of Planets.

Rei woken up in her own bed. A pounding head pain unlike any she had known had overtaken her. She could smell herself, she must have sweat quite a lot and that made her feel sick. Her eyes would not open, yet she felt no light. Her entire body hurt, her entire being was unmoving simply due to the immense pain. Not even D Point had hurt this much. She couldn't wince, couldn't cry out, even if she could feel the hot tears make their way down her face. It hurt so badly and no one understood, no one really knew.

"It's alright." The voice of Hotaru boomed in her ears so loudly that Rei thought they were going to bleed. She trembled as she felt a small hand fall onto her forehead, the other moving it's way down her body, sighing softly, as she used her powers to try and ease Rei's pain. "Don't move or it'll hurt worse." The child warned, her powers warm but relaxing on Rei's skin.

All Rei could do was cry, and as soon as she felt enough energy to sob a gut wrenching sound found her lips. "It hurts!" And in far more ways than one, it did. It truly had no comparison. What was Minako doing, and why the hell did it hurt this bad. Rei couldn't be sure, but she knew the pain, that was it, that's all she knew. "Make it stop!" She screamed, the agony overtaking her.

"Shut up." Hotaru already knew this pain. She knew it too well, and had to overcome it many times, often without crying out. "The more you thrash the more it'll hurt. Stay still." Then she continued summon the powers of her healing as Rei continued to cope with the grueling agony that remained so unrelenting. It lasted hours. Hotaru remained vigilant, even well after she had used up all of the strength she could without harming herself. Rei wasn't used to the taxing ordeal.

Hotaru rested as she felt her own voice that had long since fully attuned within her inner mind. She spoke too it willingly. "I know this may seem like a stupid question, but don't you think we should tell them?" She asked her memory. It took a moment before she felt her memory manifest into the ghostlike form of reality. This was her other being, a different nature. The soul of happiness was who she became, and had done her job well over the years, still her soul of dark was apart of her, even if it was not who she would become.

"No...Martian not ready." The demonic nature of Saturn had found a voice when Hotaru had found a peaceful and happy life, however, due to the nature of her rebirths, part of her soul always remained dark. Her speech would not improve past a particular point. "Bad no here...sick...but bad gone." The nature was still very feral, yet it was in a peaceful way. Animal like in action, but tame and calm. "Martian...fine..." She nodded as if she was happy with her discovery.

"I know, she's not ready to attune herself but the souls are getting restless." Hotaru laughed at the firm shake indicating the refusal to agree.  
"Souls happy...floating...happy." Hotaru's memory then went off to poke at the Martian. "Angry...no hate...no bad...sleeping...bad no here. Sleeping."  
"She's going to hit you again if you wake her up." Hotaru did remember each and every rebirth, including her more feral natures...it was all apart of her.  
"...bad no here..." She asked again. "Sleeping..." She cocked her head to the side and looked in question.  
"Because she's tired, now get away from her or I'm not going to be held responsible for her actions." Hotaru warned.  
"Sleeping." The feral version of herself nodded in a childlike fashion apparently happy with the answer.

The memory began walking its way back to the master of her current living form, and soon closed it's eyes as it went back into the inner mind it called home. Hotaru couldn't help but feel sorry for the part of herself that would, for the current life at least, stay detached from her body. Saturn wasn't normal, her rebirth with the help of Usagi had given her a reason to live, but it was at the cost of human blood. She was her planet in every way, shape, and form. She no longer had a human heart, and was very much like her Setsuna-mama who also shared the same basic burden of not knowing a human existence.

Rei was out like a light. Hotaru knew there was little left she could do and journeyed down the hall where Setsuna was dealing with Minako's prone form. Setsuna had been expecting a worse reaction to the attuning of souls, but she was happy it hadn't gone too far. "Rei's resting, but she's alright now. I did what I could, but it still hasn't erased everything."

"I hadn't expected it would." Setsuna's body was the same from the past, fate was her past, present, and future. Because of this memories became apart of her being regularly, as her memory merged with herself in the future on an almost momentary basis. She felt no pain because she had gotten so used to it, her body had built of the defenses over countless years. The problematic issue was that if fate found a disturbance or a reason to become unglued, she suffered from feeling ill, however that too was a normal feeling, and one the mages of the past had a name for.

Fatebane was a common illness among the mages, and thus it wasn't something to be cured. It just happened off and on like the seasonal cold of flu. Now was one of those times, and although she felt weary, and in need of rest, she continued her careful watch over the blond. "You released Saturn didn't you?" Setsuna asked aloud, already knowing the answer.

"I had too, she was worried about Rei. She's worried about Minako too, but I know how you get when you see her, so I'm keeping her at bay. She's not happy about it in the least though." Hotaru walked over to Minako's bedside and shook her head. This was going to be hard on all of them. "Can I ask you something...about the past I mean."

"You can, but I'm not sure I can answer you. It depends on the question posed." Setsuna answered void of emotion. It was still painful sometimes. She thought it better not to think about it, but when forced to remember back she had to relive each and every moment, and the memory was so vivid that it felt like she was there, in the flesh.

"Could I ever speak..." Hotaru had always wondered that.  
"When you were little, you could have been taught properly, however as you grew into the memory you hold it became hard." Setsuna explained.  
"Also, what is a memory anyway, like at its core...I'm old enough to know right?" Hotaru had been...protected from the deeper nature of things.  
"I'm not so sure you're ready for the real weight of that." Setsuna had wanted to wait a few more years before she spoke about the past in any light when it came to Hotaru.  
"I'm not ready for the weight and yet I can still wield my planetary deity?" Hotaru copped back.

"Alright, alright." Setsuna knew better than to try to talk herself out of that one. Hotaru's powers were dark by nature of the events, not by the fact she was a walking monster. Still, it was easy to shove her into that role and Setsuna refused to allow Hotaru to bring up such dark conversations out of a simple question. "Well, it's complicated, but, if I were to explain it, I would need to give you a layout of time and the power of paradox in and of itself."

"I'm listening." Hotaru answered crossing her arms. "And we've got a long time till either one wakes up, so don't spare me any details, no matter how dark they are."

"Well, time is a spectrum of many laws, and most of them are rather obvious. The one in question is the grandfathers paradox, among others, however, it's not the law in and of itself, but rather, how the law is kept functional. See, fate and time are like little bits of information, code from a computer if you want to call it something in a technical light, however it is deeper than that in reality. These moments in time are segregated from the rest, say, a fall of a kingdom. How fate assures that one can not travel back to undo things is leave a piece of the reality behind, in the form of a memory."

Alright...Such as the shopping trip we did three days ago?" Hotaru was trying to equate a recent example.

"Exactly correct. We could not do that entire trip down to perfection, although we could replicate it, it would not be the same event...the same ideal will occur in Crystal Tokyo. Fate is assuring that the same events can not occur, and the way to do that is to merger the person with the memories, however, this also creates an impossibility since the memories that will merger into them are not the same people they were, just as you are not the feral dark side the power can change you into."

"So, our past is merging with our current selves..." Hotaru got that, but she couldn't understand how both could exist. "Wouldn't fate have to remove someone? Both our past and our current bodies can not come to be, right?"

"Your past are ghosts of you, they are the souls that will aid you and prepare you, so in a way they will remain only in the past, however as you can sense life and death, you, and your fellow Senshi will be able to call forth their memories at any given time. Just as your Saturn comes in a spiritual form you can see, the same could go for the other Senshi, should they allow it." Setsuna stopped for a moment thinking about something and nodding to herself. "We shall let them sleep, and I will take you to the answer you seek most" Then Setsuna paused. "However, do not place blame on me, for what you see. Also, what you see you must share with no one, they aren't ready to deal with it yet."

Hotaru watched as Setsuna transformed, opening a pathway to the gates. Wordlessly Hotaru followed, eager to know the realities behind her nature, and the ever looming questions that often rang forth in her mind.

TBC~~~

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Please leave a review, let me know what you think.


	48. Arc 2, Chapter 4

AN: Well, now that we are furthering our way through arc 2, lets get on with the next chapter. Little drama, but not too bad, we'll have something completely different next chapter.

I do not own Sailor Moon.

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Arc 2: Chapter 4: Memories...

"You aren't going to let her in are you?" This voice, it was Minako's...yet, it wasn't. No not even close. "You'll never allow her in, simply because if she joins you, you'll feel like you've lost it all. Is that is? Can the person I feel if love with really be so foolish that she wishes to push part of herself away, condemned to only live in sleep?"

"You know that's not true." Another older voice, Rei's own. She could hear them both. "She is only mortal in this world, our guiding spirits are protecting them, but you know yourself, as she is now, she's merely a child unable to accept her strength. Your girl, she was stronger, but for me, this one, this girl just simply isn't ready. We had to be far stronger at their age than she will ever know, however it is because of this, that she still lives." There seemed to be some sort of talking going on, but for what ever reason Rei couldn't actually see anything, the light that would call her hadn't come, only the voices reaching her ears.

"That doesn't matter and you know it." Minako's voice, rather her memory was annoyed. This woman was so angry, so annoyed with what had been going on.  
"We are no more but the essences for our planets. You are Venus, I am Mars. This is all we can be anymore." The finality in Rei's older voice scared her. It seemed so dark in its own way.  
"That's only because you refuse to give her the power she needs." Rei was confused, but managed to grasp that there was some sort of fight going on.  
"Alright Venus." Rei's older voice boomed. "Care to tell me what happens when I do unleash my power? Dare you question what might happen to them, too her or you?" The voice was angry...but also sounded scared.

"We need to question it, because it'll happen one day, like it or not." Minako's voice, even if it was just Venus, became an unnerving sound. "I know the dangers. I saw them first hand. I see what you get like, what happens when you feel like everything is out of your hands, but you need to trust that they can handle it, that I can handle you...Minako's powers are starting to find a peek in strength, soon you too will find that Rei will need you, and we will return too the bodies we belong with. Life will go on for them, and here we will stay, no more than guiding spirits ready to take on a new meaning."

Rei woke up then, in her own room. She could hear the voices still, and looked around frantically. "Rei, down here." That was her voice, it called her, and quickly she shot her hand down by the bed frame looking at her pen for transformations. The red crystal was glowing, the warm power something Rei knew of well, and yet she gazed at the glow as if it was a danger for her and the world she knew.

She couldn't grasp that. "Your you...in what? You've been in that...this...this entire time! I've...what the hell?" The soft astonishment in her voice left many questions in the air.  
"I told you not to talk while she was here. See what you've caused." The red crystal seemed to be yelling at Minako's own orange crystal.  
"Hotaru put me here, so I spoke. You should be glad Saturn sides with us on these matters." Minako's crystal scoffed from the bed side table.  
"Yes! It really makes the situation more simple now doesn't it!" Rei's crystal yelled loosing her temper.  
"Well someone needs to be responsible arou-"

"Stop fighting!" Rei screeched, silencing the fighting going on. "Tell me what the hell I'm doing in there!" Both crystals sighed at the remark. One in aggravation, the other in depression.

"You aren't in here." Rei's older voice explained. "I'm in here. Your older, but already dead, self. I am what you used to be, and yet, while you were indeed reincarnated, I'm the memory you left behind, the power of your form." Noticing the odd look she was being given, the crystal just grumbled in aggravation. "Look, did you ever wonder why your powers are easily controlled?" The dumb nod of confusion was enough of an answer. "It's because I'm in here controlling it, however,when you do something stupid, like flash and trash over here, the power can no longer be contained."

The orange crystal didn't rebuke at the aggravation, but instead addressed Rei. "You'll have to pardon her. She's a bit grumpy with me at the moment, but the ill tempered little thing isn't mad at you. That is the power of Mars, as our spirits are now called by the planet we used to reside, but at one point you and her were the same being. Now, she is Mars, the power you hold, and you are the body that the soul resides, however the power and the soul are two different things entirely, although they share a link."

"Who in the hell are you calling little!" The crystal was flashing bright red at that statement.  
"For the love..." Minako stumbled in through the door. "Stop fighting, your killing my head."  
"So much for being covert..." The red little crystal unwilling to drop the matter. "This is why I told Saturn to take you back!"  
"She would have known anyway, I'm in her head genus. She can hear every word I say!" Venus snapped.

"That's why I said shut up!" Minako shouted at her crystal as she rolled into Rei's bed, barely contained tears leaking from her eyes.

"What's happening?" Rei's attention now on the girl in bed with her. "Is it like before?" That's when it snapped into Rei's head. Her room was clean, and both of them had somehow been placed into pajamas. She didn't even know how that happened, but right now, her concern was for the nearly crying blond who was trying to curl into the smallest possible ball she could. "Minako?" Rei whispered softly. "Minako?" Her worry rising by the second.

"She can't hear you, just leave her be." The orange crystal containing Venus spoke. "Mars..."  
"What!" The crystal of red hue yelled.  
"Explain." Venus said in a heated yet quiet voice.  
"Why can't you do it?" The indignant reply was met with a growl in frustration.  
"You. Know. Why. Not." The crystal of Venus had just as much bite and it seemed too work.  
"Fine." Mars explained, highly aggravated with having too go over something that happened constantly. "Rei, leave her be and come here."

"I can hear you just fine." Rei answered quietly, she had fully ignored the fighting between the two other voices and had went about trying to get Minako to wake up. Now, having failed that, she had a cool cloth on the blonds' forehead refusing to leave her side as she sat on the bed, Minako's head resting on her lap. "Now what's going on." Rei's voice was thick with worry as she felt a slender hand clutch her nightshirt in nothing sort of immeasurable pain. The blond rolling onto her side as if she was trying to bury the suffering away. She was clearly awake, but wasn't responding well.

"She's dealing with the powers and abilities of reading emotions. Yes, she's always had some ability to do it, but the power in and of itself is a Venusian trait. This however, is what you could consider a sort of side effect. She feeds off of emotions, and they rebound. If that makes any sense. It makes her ill, and will continue to do so on an almost daily basis until she is fully attuned. You will suffer if she reads you, merely because pinpointing and diving into an emotion places stress onto the body. Thus reading it, is very taxing, as if your own body is being infiltrated. That's what happened earlier and what caused you too be sick." Mars started the rather lengthy explanation.

"And that's what's happening now" Rei wanted to understand better.

Yes. You will all undergo a level of pain when attuning your bodies. Hotaru, the girl containing Saturn was the first to accept the conditions. Minako, although her memories had awakened long ago had only now readily accepted her true planetary powers." Mars continued carefully. "The thing is, all of you will go through with it, fate wants this too happen, and if I know one thing about that stupid mage, its that fate always gets its way."

"Setsuna may be a pain, but she really isn't all that bad." Rei answered back offhandedly, more worried about Minako. "She's shaking in a cold sweat. Is what's going on really that bad? Is it really supposed to be that painful?" She stroked blond tresses away from watering eyes as Minako whimpered incoherently, shaking as her hand went up to hold her head. All Rei could do was watch. She felt so useless that she had been reduced too simply waiting for the unknown. "Why did she do this too herself?" Rei asked out, her voice raw. "How could she willingly do this?"

"Because you will not." Venus answered simply, but truthfully, trying to keep her voice quiet. "She loves you deeply, even I can see that, and she can tell something is causing you pain, although you keep her at arms length. She love you as I love Mars, that love is still there ingrained deep within my being, and that's what you see in Minako, however, she knows well and truly the pains of the past, and furthermore, she knows you refuse to become what you were. She knows from my memories what happened, and she keeps that all inside, however even so, she wishes that you would accept a portion of what you once were."

"I'll never be what I was." Rei denied the claim. She was not her crystal, or like her past life. She was different in this life and would not believe otherwise. "I don't want the memories back. I want my life here and now, anything else can come back on its own. I don't really care."  
"But, do you care about her?" Venus cautiously tested her words. "Do you care about that girl clinging onto you, as if you could be her only hope?"  
"She's my friend, I would never leave her like this." Rei's defense was at least truthful, even if it was still a defense at the core of her speech.  
"That wasn't the question I posed." Venus shot back. "Do you care about her? At all? Even if it's just a fraction? Dare you even open your heart a little bit, or are you that much of a coward not to try?"

"I'm not." Rei's eyes fell down too the very weak form of the girl in front of her. "I'm not weak enough not to try, but she and I are different. Willingly accepting being a Senshi? Yeah I can deal with that. I can agree that my life is no longer in my control, I can fathom that I'll live for an immeasurable amount of years, and yes I can even cope with the fact I happen to be carrying a conversation with two inanimate objects, and that one of them is my own voice. As crazy as that would normally sound, I can actually comprehend all of that. However, I cannot and will not accept memories and realities that are not my own. All of that stuff happened in my current life. I can deal with it. But anything else? Can you really expect me to believe any more than that?"

"I guess not." Venus sighed. "However, she never asked you to do it. It would just be easier if you did. Minako has memories of what you did, how things happened, and powers that you could possess. Rei there is more about you and your past than you could ever understand without your memories, without the realities that Mars has. It's true that you are a different person, but some things are very much similar. You and your spiritual memory share many qualities, and some of them do strike down too the very core of your being."

"That's enough!" The red crystal containing Mars finally lost her temper in the worst way ever. "Don't you dare say it Venus, Don't even think of saying it." If the crystal had a face, it would be covered in tears, likely balled up into a corner. Rei knew herself well enough to know that if this being was in her head during her dreams that she would be in a balled up form, crying into her knees. "How could she even understand that? She can barely deal with it in this life. Don't you even dare say it."

"It's alright Mars." That vocal change was almost immediate, and Rei was stunned into silence as she knew that voice could also come from Minako. Although younger in sound, it was the same basic tone. It was rarely ever used, but on the days it was, well those were some of the darkest days Rei had ever seen, both as a little girl and as a Senshi. Only Minako could speak with her like that, only Minako could get close with that voice, not even Usagi was able, not without a verbal retaliation. The near death experiences, the fight for survival lost, the mourning of loved ones on darkened days, that was when Minako used that tone, and that was why it struck such a deep cord with Rei.

"No." The voice very hurt, but controlled carefully. "It's not." A breath of air, a shaky sigh. "Never the less, Venus is right Rei. There are many things we share, and within those things are memories and truths that are indeed, very painful. Should you and I become one, you will end up with conditions and ailments that are greatly troubling, however, you will also be granted great powers, far better than you will ever know. I won't force you, nor will I grant you memories you do not want. However, you will soon realize that the worst enemies you could possibly face are far more than any mere youma."

"There isn't anything out there worse than a youma, trust me, I've seen some pretty messed up stuff. It may not have been done by a youma, but it still..." Rei shivered at some of those more gruesome memories. Yeah, there were the near death instances, but those would have granted her a peaceful rest at the very least. Other thoughts more pressing and disturbing, like being shoved on a blacked cross of dark crystallized power and tortured until she passed out, or the time she had her heart crystal stolen were far more challenging mentally. Both times her emotions had been toyed with in sickening, defiling ways. Both times she felt tarnished, nothing short of mentally being raped came too mind in her head...nothing could possibly be worse than that.

Nothing.

"Trust me." Mars pulled Rei back from her inner reverie. "I saw what you saw, I was with you in the times you're talking about. There are still things much worse than that, and, you may one day have to admit that I'm telling the truth...it wouldn't be pretty if you did, but, that's a fact you may have to face, just put it that way."

The voice of Venus made a noncommittal sound, almost as if she was feeling remorse for Mars, although Rei wasn't sure why. She was afraid too ask, and the red crystal wasn't speaking anymore. Venus didn't say another word, utter another sound, and Minako's body, though still crunched in pain, looked at rest, as if she was sleeping soundly, and without giving it another thought, Rei too closed her eyes, although her reasons weren't for rest. She wanted an answer...after all, what could possibly be worse than a youma? For some reason, she felt like she had to know.

TBC~~~

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Well, isn't this a lovely little bomb... So yes, for those who got lost in the explanation, here's a quick explanation. The crystals shall be called by their planet. They are two separate beings, connected by the soul, thus they can act and think separately and often do so accordingly. Keep this in mind. For an example of this, Just because Minako and Venus are connected doesn't mean that they have to obey or always listen too each other.

Fully attuned souls, such as Hotaru and Saturn work differently, as was implied in the last chapter. If they choose too fully attune and completely join together, they become apart of same body, and this can also take on a physical manifestation should the mind allow the apparition the freedom to do so, thus you should all note that all spiritual attachments may vary from character too character, and with it, so will their powers. Oh, isn't this getting fun? So, just for a break down it would be as follows thus far.

Minako – Venus  
Rei – Mars

Hotaru – Saturn

Setsuna – doesn't have a secondary counterpart, so thus she is who she is.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a review and tell me what you think.


	49. Arc 2, Chapter 5

A/N: Here's the next chapter, I hope you enjoy it. Please be warned that this chapter will have **MAJOR angst** as I drop a huge bomb that's been in the set up ever since the first arc. Some of you may be expecting it, but for others who have not, hold on tight. This is going to be one very dramatic chapter...

I do not own Sailor Moon.

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Arc 2: Chapter 5: A Martian's Sin.

"As you can see Hotaru, the memory you have can take on the form of any moment within your history." Setsuna explained. Time was frozen still, two dead bodies before them only a fragment of the truth left. "This was when your life ended on the moon. They say that Pluto as a planet has ties with Hades, and this is rather true. You and I are not different at our base, our souls are very much tied within fate, weather we wish it to be that way or not. We both bring upon revolution, evolution, and disillusion. How we go about those tasks are different, however, the fact remains that any job we do, any battle faced, is merely a composition of smaller steps we take in fate."

"I can see that." Hotaru answered softly, her fingers were covered in blood. This place was very much real, and time continued onward, even if they went unseen and unheard. "Do you come back often?"  
"I have no reason to do so." Setsuna answered with a tense air. "You are alive and at my side, however, in this moment in which we stand you are dead and thus unable to affect this world, even if you breath in your future."  
"Paradox corrects the imbalance by pulling the memory of my death into the present..." Hotaru nodded trying her best to understand.  
"Do you understand why Rei is looking at you, even if she should not be able to see either of us?" Setsuna often wondered just how much Hotaru understood logically, and how much was base instinct.  
"I know that it is because she can feel me, and my existence." The look Hotaru donned became carefully analytical. "I'm just not sure why."

"It is likely that what Rei felt when she handed your lifeless body her gem could have been you as you stand now." Setsuna spoke. "Your spirit is here, however, you are dead in this time, and thus, your spirit is you, Saturn's future vision. This was our fate back then." Her voice shook with cold pain, the memory was raw, especially when she saw the events in such clarity. "I'm sorry you suffered so much. I'm sorry I couldn't save you."

"Your sorry for what?" Hotaru's looked up, her soft gaze noticing the tears falling quietly as Setsuna stood there, unmoving. "Sorry that I asked to die? Sorry that you did what had to be done? That you granted my request?" Hotaru shook her head only slightly. "I should be thanking you...besides, if this is the past, if we no longer must return here ever again, does it really matter?"

"I lost you before." Setsuna sobbed, kneeling down, pulling Hotaru into a hug. "I could have lost you again if it hadn't been for Usagi. It's all one gigantic crap shoot and I took gambles I never should have."  
"I'm here now aren't I?" Hotaru asked confused. "Those gambles paid off didn't they?"  
"At what other cost Hotaru..." It was a statement, not a question. "What have I done by defying fate. How much further could I push, and what happens if..." Setsuna trailed off, they already knew the question.  
"I would do my job as I was born to do." Hotaru answered calmly. "I would take my weapon, and you know what I would do...but I would only do it if I had no other option."

"Even with the ability to defy fate...even if now, with the soul you contain, you'd destroy all life as we know it?"

"We all have burdens to bear Setsuna-mama...but I assumed you knew that when you brought me here. Just as you would stop time if you thought you could fix something, I will destroy a planet should we have no other option, but, I'd like to think I'd have a higher willpower to fight off the feeling of causing doom if a bleak time should arise...that's what I want to think anyway." Looking at her white glove, Hotaru saw the blood that was her own. Her body was on the floor before her, yet she couldn't say she was bothered by it. She was more disturbed by the other body, the one she had killed by her very own hand. "Why do you not mourn her...she was your mom...wasn't she? How can you not hate me."

"She wanted death, you gave her the one thing she wanted...she was older and it was her time." Setsuna couldn't say she mourned the death of the late queen of Pluto, however, there was a dull ache that seemed to reside in a part of her soul, a piece of her mind could still clearly recall vast memories having to do with the woman. "But, I do miss her...a little bit I guess, but like you say, she was my mother, I would be more worried about someone who didn't fondly miss a parent. I don't blame you...if that's what your asking."

"Do you want-" Hotaru cut herself off sharply pulling herself away...she didn't want an answer for that question, let alone finish it.  
"Not right now, I can't say that I wish death." Setsuna gave an answer anyway as she stood slowly. "I must produce an heir and train them properly before I am even able to allow myself death anyway."  
"We have time then?" Hotaru wished a positive answer... she dearly didn't ever want to be the one to deliver another end. Never again, not if she wasn't forced.  
"If you consider over five thousand years at the very least a long span, then yes Hotaru, you have time." Setsuna didn't bother stating the other little thought.  
"I'll be dead and reborn by then. My current life, and my memories with you all, they will remain happy, until my pending next life." Hotaru already knew after all...

While the still framed moment in time was revealed for Hotaru, another being also wished answers within the depth of sleep, and while Setsuna knew it was bound to happen, she knew that it would be the first time they would be facing trouble as a Senshi unit. Alliances could rip apart and reform all based on the choices of each Senshi. For Rei, one of the stronger inner Senshi, her memories could make rifts that out matched many others, and these rifts could only mend if one person became able to do so. It was yet another gamble, yet another cosmic crap shoot with all or nothing on the line, Setsuna was just thankful that for once, the dice, the cards, and the ante wasn't in her hands.

"You wanted...to see..." Mars spoke softly, she sounded broken and battered, her body looked even worse. "But Rei, if you see it...you can't go back." White light engulfed them, the image of Mars was normally a powerful being, she was Rei's fighting spirit in every way shape and form...but this woman was bleeding, crying, and ghostly pale. She was dead, the memory was just a spirit, Rei could normally accept the ideal. But that spirit took on many forms based on the memory Rei had attempted to recall. Sadly, the memory of death wasn't what she had expected, but this memory, this vision...it was a broken warrior, without a people, without a name sake, and likely, if the other image was any form of a hint, she was also now, without a lover. "Don't look...you can't go back, you can't forget...so just go back while you can."

"Is that Minako?" Rei's voice was steel, but her blood was cold, her mouth became dry and the image began to take shape as she welcomed whatever her mind was trying to show her. She stood there shaking, the answer was obvious. No one else had on orange when they transformed. No one else had a chain of hearts as a weapon...no one else could have that stare...that look...that understanding...no one but Minako could have that.

"Rei..." Mars was careful about how she spoke... the memory, the mirror image of Rei, only a few years older stood tall, but the light of honor was long gone from her eyes. There was no hope left for her to find. "If I tell you what went on here, I guarantee you, things will not be the same. You'll never be able to think the same things ever again, and accepting this image with only further bind us together as one. The closer we get, the more like me you will become. I don't think you could possibly be ready for this image."

"Who did it?" Rei asked with a violent intent in the back of her speech. It would be unwise for any mortal to cross her path...the look in her eyes murderous.  
"Rei..." Mars tried, begging inwardly that her younger self not push the issue at hand. Not yet, not now...she wasn't ready. "Please, just wake up."  
"Who killed Minako!" Rei shouted running after her image, ready to strike. The apparition wasn't a solid figure, and thus, Rei ran right through her, and out of the white haze that had protected her from seeing.

"My god..." Rei breathed out in horror her eyes shooting open as soon as the image had entered her head. "No... No!"  
Rei panicked running out of her room and into the hall, being tackled by the blond that had just featured in her worst nightmare know to man. "Stop!" Minako ordered out trying to hold onto the raven haired girl.  
"Get away from me!" Rei screamed. "Get away! Now!" Her strength rivaled that of an unknown power, and she easily pushed Minako away, running down the hall and out of the shrine.

Her speed was astounding, but if it was from utter fright or pure power of her will she didn't know...all that she did know was that she didn't want to be anywhere near the blond. Her chest hurt, her mind was on overload and she didn't know what to do as the pain overtook her, forcing her to collapse on the ground clutching her shirt for dear life. "I killed her..." She mumbled incoherently as she fought for breath. Tears found her eyes as the weight of the situation took hold and she curled into herself shaking violently. "Dear god." She coughed out sickened by her own discovery, broken into brittle pieces. "It was me." She whispered, only vaguely aware of the figure standing over her. "I'm her murderer."

TBC!

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Alright, that's enough depression for one chapter I do believe. Please leave a review!

Information for those who care:

If you're wondering where the starting reference point for this particular chapter comes into play, you can find it in the one titled "An Understanding." There are other chapters that hinted this would happen as well, some even earlier than that chapter, however, the references didn't get strong until the exchange between Venus and Mars themselves.


	50. Arc 2, Chapter 6

A/N: Well, I know a few people have been waiting for the next chapter, lucky for you, it, and a few others are already written ahead of time for just such reasons. :D

I don't own Sailor Moon.

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Arc 2: Chapter 6: Acceptance of the Past: Part 1

"Rei, you need to eat." Minako sighed softly. The girl of raven tresses didn't speak. Her focus was on the wall. As long as she looked at the wall she would never have to face the voice that kept speaking to her. She couldn't handle seeing those blue eyes, not yet, not ever...not if she could help it. It had been two days since the memory had knocked her into a downward spiral, and her depression was worsening by the day as she continued to lay around in a half daze. Life turned so bland when one understood the truth, when one saw a vision that took away everything she had thought she knew. "It..." Minako wasn't sure if she should say her thoughts, but Rei wasn't moving, and someone had to be the first to crack the silence. "The vision wasn't easy for me either...so, its alright..." Rei didn't budge.

She stood, walking out of Rei's room and pattering slowly down the hall where all of the inner Senshi sat with baited breath. It was unnerving seeing one of their own so emotionally destroyed "No go...she's totally ignoring me." Minako answered the question in the waiting gazes. "Not that I didn't expect that...I mean it's not something that you can just bounce back from...but I was expecting a least a year or two more before she would actually seek out answers. She's always said she wanted her own real memories back and so I just assumed that she would wait longer and not accept things, I know I was wrong about it but I just wasn't sure she would accept Mars for reality."

"No one expected you to know." Setsuna spoke carefully, she was the only Outer Senshi attending this particular meeting, and only by Minako's persistent request had she attended. "Fate hadn't fully expected her reaction either. It was assumed that Rei would run away from the vision, but since I cannot control Rei, I can't fully predict her actions, no one can." She cleared her throat from the emotion it was starting to gain. "However, in light of this, I think its time we face facts. Some things need to be revealed that at the time of your reawakening were left out of place. Events were indeed altered for the protection of fate, and because the late queen wished for you only happiness. She had no idea this would happen years down the line in such a manner."

"Setsuna..." Makoto's eyes froze on the mage in question. She had been cool, calm and fairly well tempered considering the reason for this meeting, but her ability to keep herself level was becoming the last strand on a very thin string. "Events were altered?" Her hands were clenched at her sides as a momentary bitter laugh bit softly through the air, her nails digging into her own flesh. All of the Senshi gasped as they saw a trickle of blood drip from her left palm, Ami the first one too rush for the first aid kit. "First Rei has a grotesque vision about killing Minako, and now our resident time mage tells us events were altered. No shit they were altered!" Her voice boomed with anger before dropping into a dangerously low level. Her fist flying backwards, damaging the wall. "Setsuna...what the hell actually happened."

"Not now." Ami answered softly as she entered back into the room. Someone had to maintain control, Usagi was frozen in shock from hearing about the vision, Minako could barely stay stable without breaking down into a fit of tears, and Makoto enraged didn't seem like the best idea. Someone had to take charge, and right now, with the situation so bad, it fell on her. "No more talk about this... not right now." She answered, staring Makoto down as she approached her. Emerald eyes were more fragile than angry, a nerve had been struck in the worst way possible. "Sit down." Ami whispered slowly. "Just sit down Makoto. Rei's our concern right now. Not the past, not back then...we have the now to worry about."

Makoto didn't budge. Her stare down was with Setsuna. "And you too apparently..." Ami sighed... why was she the one in the middle of a looks to kill contest. This was just nuts on more levels than she would admit outwardly. She edged further near Makoto, the tall girl would never hurt her, but her hand clenched in that manner was drawing blood, it needed to be stopped. "You know..." Ami started slowly, as she held into Makoto's fingers, loosening their vice like grip. "I've attuned as well. I think it's safe to state, that bar Usagi, who's own mother resides within the crystal, all of us have heard their voice and come to accept that things may not be what they seem."

She saw the gash, and sighed as she tended the bleeding hand. It wasn't deep, but the fact was that it was there none the less. The intense stare down battle continued. "This isn't anyone's fault, however, we need to agree that we can't ignore whats happening to Rei. Those memories...they, well some of them aren't easy...I know that just like Minako, and now Rei knows too...but we all have a different vantage points. I don't remember the fight, but I think that's because my death was before the fall...Although, I've never really looked for that exact memory."

"You got the crap kicked out of you." A green crystal spoke from Makoto's pocket. "You were encased in ice... it was self preservation, There was a battle among earthlings that had invaded the scientific wing where we kept our experimental documents. At the time, you, or rather the body that you used to own, being your past incarnation, suffered from a near fatal wound to head when she was sent flying past a tank of acids... as if that hadn't been enough, the room caught fire and most of the lab was destroyed. At that point though, the battle had just begun, you were the first to fall in the line of duty, the only thing we could think of to do was set you into suspended animation with the power of both the silver crystal and the crystal of your power..."

"You pick now of all times to say that!" Makoto shouted at her pocket... "Shut up...I hate it when you talk."  
"Wait...I want to hear this." Ami spoke softly. "Do you happen to remember anything else."  
That would be a negative." The crystal in Ami's purse spoke out. "Only Rei or Minako should speak on the events."  
"Alright."Ami sighed and then nodded. "...and you hold still."  
"Ami, it's just a small cut." Makoto scoffed, not bothering to listed to the orbs of apparent knowledge. Her rage was focused at Setsuna.  
"You say that now, wait about seven hours and then tell her that again when your still bleeding..." The blue orb shot back, unwilling to play games.  
"I take it you know from experience?" Ami smiled softly, Makoto did tend to make a track record for herself as far as far as medical flubs went.

"You have no idea what kind of damage she or Rei would end up inflicting on themselves on any given day. She cut her hand just like that, in the same exact manner when she found out what happened in the martian wing. Minako was out cold for days on end and other pressing matters occurred during that time. What Rei had reported was hard on her...she did the same thing then too, but she hid it and I found out several hours later, when four rolls a gauze in a gigantic bundle had quite obviously failed to be an adequate treatment option." The green crystal made an undignified sound while the blue crystal just sighed. "See what I mean?"

"Anyway..." Usagi swallowed, catching her bearings as she licked her lips, trying to find a voice. "Right now, I could care less how we died. I've come close far too many times. I won't lose anyone again, and Rei won't get over this on her own." Her eyes looked onward at Minako. The blond was flighty, but she also loved Rei...that love went further than anyone could possibly guess, however, it was clear that what ever had gone on in the past hadn't swayed Minako's feelings. "I hate to do this." Her voice was soft and melodic, however, it commanded attention from all eyes. Her Senshi followed her, and right now, they desperately needed a light of hope. "But, I don't want to lose anyone. Not again."

She stood, walking down the hall, stopping only once, looking back. Determination was in her features, along with slight fear. "No one is permitted into Rei's room, however, I forbid anyone from leaving either. Call the others, tell them I expect them here by nightfall. Call your families, I want this entire shrine on lock down. No one goes too school, no one goes home...I don't care what you have to defy. No one leaves until we deal with Rei. Minako, for the time being I'm striping you of your command. You have enough on your plate for now. Ami, I'm placing you in charge. Makoto, if one fist goes flying and it isn't out of self protection, I swear to all that we protect my boot will be up your butt so quickly it'll make you head spin. Lastly, I forbid any more talk about this apparent past. That goes for you crystals too. Talk amongst yourselves if you must, but keep it out of the living world. This is no time for bitter memories and half truths. These are your orders, act accordingly."

The others merely sat flabbergasted. Usagi never barked orders like that, however, it was clear she was concerned, and the look on her face was something no one dared to toy with. Usagi bean walking slowly into Rei's room, her hand only lightly touching the door. It had been so long since any major drama that it was easy to forget how quickly their reality could crash around them. In her younger years, Usagi would have likely broken down and cried in a corner. Perhaps she would have just let things work themselves out...but, her reflections on battles had shown her one thing. It was indecisive action that often landed them into the worst trouble.

When she faltered, her Senshi faltered, and when they lost strength as a team, she lost her friends. D Point was one of the worst memories. First Makoto jumped into the fray haphazardly knowing impending doom was near, then Ami lost her cool not only slapping someone of authority, but then facing down a cluster of enemies at once, knowing by all logic she would have never made it...Minako had to have known she was committing suicide by that point. The odds weren't in favor. And Rei...Rei knew what she was doing, but unlike the other Senshi, Usagi not only had to watch in grim detail, she was forced to hear Rei say that she was right. That, at the time, was a rather harsh slap in the face.

Their were other times too, and these time pained her greatly. Sadly, although it was something Usagi regret, she began getting used to the idea that her friends were expendable in worst case situations. Not because she wanted them to be, but because they normally threw themselves into the pit of hell before she could do anything about it. The Outer Senshi were the same way. That's why she was doing this. It would be her this time...if anyone was going to go down first, it would be her. The Senshi as a team would face any foe, but they would obliterate the cause for danger in a heart beat...what worried Usagi the most was Rei. She was the only apparent immediate threat, and only because she deemed herself to be so.

If Rei thought for a second that anyone would face harm... No. Usagi wouldn't think it...wouldn't even amuse what Rei would do in order to protect everyone from herself. No one could help them. Rei wasn't crazy, she was a Senshi...their lives were insane on any given day...but you couldn't call a mere doctor for what Rei was going through. You couldn't just call an intervention. This was too unworldly, and they'd have to deal with this themselves. She opened the door stepping through and sliding the door closed softly. Rei was still facing that same wall, and her food hadn't been touched. It was in this moment Usagi finally whispered into the room. "Fate be damned..."

TBC!

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Please leave a review. The next chapter is finished on paper, just need time for a type up, although I'm not sure when that will be.


	51. Arc 2, Chapter 7

A/N: I'm back after a longer break than I had thought. Christmas caught up with me and I got lost in the flood of being busy, but, I'm back now with a new chapter. Gosh it feels good to be back without the insanity known as the holidays. I hope everyone had a very merry...what ever it is you happen to celebrate, although some of you may not be done with the festivities until after the 6th of the new year, so have fun if that's your day. Anyway, on with the fiction.

I don't own Sailor Moon.

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Arc 2: Chapter 7: Acceptance of the Past: Part 2

"Life must go on. I gave you these memories so that you could move forward in your life. Not so that you would crumple down into a ball for the rest of your days." Mars spoke softly. "Minako dearly wishes you'd speak with her, and your princess needs you. Regardless of selfishness and inward loathing, you must act upon your duties. That is the task you promised you'd do. The fact you still allow them around this room shows me that you'd never step down, thus, you must step up." Mars was being truthful. Her inward spirit was almost done fusing with the old body. Soul and body were almost reunited fully, but Mars had to wonder at what cost.

A knock at the door stopped her from speaking more, and as it slid open the tired eyes of love gazed at the still broken form of Hino Rei. It was painful to watch and even worse to accept. If it had been any other memory, or anyone else, there was no doubt Rei would have at least shook it off, even if it was only outwardly. That's what hurt the most. Minako knew that Rei would have gotten over it rather quickly had it been anyone else. However she couldn't justify killing someone who was her lover back then, no matter what had happened in the past.

"Rei." Minako sighed, looking at the crestfallen warrior she used to know so well. "You can't be like this forever." It was the same scene, third day. Rei looked at the wall and never budged. She left only to use the bathroom, and only when she knew the others wouldn't bother her. Her eyes were so weak but she seemed to fail in finding sleep. Her face pale, and although she would sip water, she refused food, feeling sick if anything solid passed her lips. The worst thing though, the one bit of torment that caused Minako the most grief was the nights. Then, and only then was when Rei cried. She stood exiting the room, Usagi never allowed them alone with Rei for very long.

It was Rei's only request. The only thing she wanted was to be alone and Usagi permitted it for now.

Minako pattered softly down the hall where most of her fellow Senshi remained awaiting Rei to emerge from the room. At the sight of only Minako, the hopeful faces turned back into sad foreboding ones. Everyone had a way to deal with the stress, but out of all of them it was Hotaru who remained the most calm. She could care less about missing school. Her post on Rei's door never wavering for a moment. She would smile her soft little smile, and often allowed her inner memory the freedom to scamper around, much to Usagi's displeasure. She was trying to rid trauma, not instigate it, but this little being was doing just that. Patting people on the head, bounding from one room into another, and constantly sitting as a lost puppy would seeking its master at the foot of Rei's door.

"Saturn...stop that." Hotaru ordered her memory only halfheartedly as it once again followed Minako around.  
"No, it's alright." The blond shook her head. She knew well of the origin, and this particular memory had already suffered enough on her account. She wouldn't begrudge the poor thing attention now.  
"I still wish you would put her back where she belongs." Usagi rolled her eyes. Fighting this battle was fruitless. Hotaru just didn't listen to reason.

"She belongs here just as much as I do." Hotaru shrugged. She couldn't fault Usagi, her memory was quite bothersome according to some.

Usagi watched as the memory scampered around in an almost ape like fashion. It seemed to not like her very much, and avoided her at all cost. Haruka and Michiru were also pointedly avoided, Haruka often met with violent retaliation, the memory not seeming friendly with the blond. Setsuna often carted the memory around as she would have Hotaru at that age, although, it was really the apparition that clung onto her. She was still a ghost, despite being able to be seen. Makoto seemed to find a toleration for the small creature at best, allowed it to get near her, but would threaten it with violence if it tried to cling. Sadly Minako was the only one who seemed to show affection towards her besides Setsuna who always had her guard up anyway. Hotaru acted as if her memory was little more than a pet. It all thoroughly confused Usagi. Again she stood to check on Rei, and again the small beast like girl followed her. "No...you stay here." Usagi ordered the memory.

It shook it's head and Usagi marched onward. She didn't have time to argue with figments of imagination. Glad that Saturn wasn't moving she opened the door only to have Saturn speed past and into Rei's room where she found herself eye to eye with Rei. "You again?" Rei shrugged. The attuning had shown her one thing. This creature was annoying, but not evil. "What the hell do you want now? Go away." She spat, rolling over and away from the being that seemed so interested in her self loathing. "I said get!" Rei shouted as she would an animal that had been bugging her.

Usagi watched in awe from the door. Rei spoke with it. The first fighting words in three days, and they were at Saturn of all things. They hadn't been defeated, saddened words or half sighs, but words with actual bite. The exchange continued with catlike pawing on Rei's back, as if trying to provoke a response. Rei tried to swat at it a few times, failing to hit anything solid. Kitten like nuzzling soon followed before Saturn for her part seemed to give up. Cocking her head to the side in confusion before laying down next to Rei, curled up like a confused saddened pup. "Hotaru come get Saturn please." Usagi's request was of confused worry.

"No." Rei's answer showed no emotion.

"Are you-" Usagi's question was cut at the pass.  
"Leave us be." Rei sighed. "She can stay."

"Do you really want her in here?" The concern was thinly veiled, Rei could see that.  
"She's like me." Lavender eyes met those of pale violet. This wild girl really didn't want to leave. "So, I guess it's alright."

It was an order not a request and Usagi nodded, closing the door. She wasn't about to fight Rei over this. Not now, when clearly it was the one being Usagi didn't want around that seemed to have gotten a response. Hotaru was coming back towards the room when Usagi wordlessly turned the girl around and walked her back into the living room. She leaned back on the sofa, sitting Hotaru next too her. "I'd like to speak with Minako and Hotaru alone. Everyone else is free to do as they wish, but stay on the shrine grounds." Usagi's word was as good as law, and everyone quickly made themselves scarce. Minako sat facing Usagi while Hotaru didn't move. This was so unlike their princess.

"I know the two of you know something and until now I was happy to assume that Rei would slowly come to terms with this...what I don't understand is why Rei said what she did." Usagi spoke softly, very carefully, but also firmly. "Tell me, what do you think 'She's like me' even means, because as I see it Saturn and Rei are nothing alike. What am I missing here, I know the two of you have a very good idea."

Minako got quiet in an instant, freezing as her eyes shot to the ground. Of course she knew what Rei meant, but that didn't mean she was ready to talk about it with anyone else. Hotaru fidgeted, and her soft voice echoed where Minako's hadn't. "What Rei means is that they're both rejects...at least this is what I assume. On the moon my past incarnation, the one you saw, was effectively my other half. A darker more feral side of myself if you'll allow that type of thought process. I was rejected in that form by almost everyone, and those that didn't hate or fear me tolerated me at best. I think Rei feels as if she's tolerated at best. I just don't know why, Minako should know though." She turned to the blond in question. "Don't you?"

"Martians..." Minako bit her lip. Yes, she knew all to well. "They have a dark side too. Rei lost it and I couldn't bring her back...so she just...it just happened Usagi. It just happened so fast that no one could have stopped it. It was inevitable and she just couldn't believe...and I couldn't stop what I should have..." Minako shook her head. It was still too raw. She could live with it before, back when she knew the past was merely the past, but watching Rei face down an inner demon long gone...it was to raw. "It just did."

"This isn't getting us anywhere." Venus sighed, manifesting her form while Minako's defenses were down. She didn't much like seeing a mirrored image of herself if she could help it. Hearing the voice, that was one thing, but seeing herself was something she didn't want to deal with. "Hotaru, get Minako out of here. She doesn't want to see me, and I don't need her around for this." Hotaru didn't move, she was frozen. Usagi was her leader, she only took orders from Usagi. "That's an order Hotaru!" The apparition snapped as it walked closer to Usagi, who for her part was shocked into submission.

This Minako was older, and covered in her own blood. This Minako had battle scars that still bled. Ones that had been her demise. This Minako...was sending chills down her keepers spine as the living blond crumpled into the floor. She never wanted to see herself like that. "Hotaru...do as Venus says..." Usagi's voice broken through the haze, and she did what she was told leaving only one living being and one memory of death left to face off. Usagi steeled herself. She couldn't believe the graphic marks of cuts that marred Minako's former incarnation...if this was what Rei saw it wasn't any wonder why she had been so broken. "Does it...still hurt?" Usagi's question a whisper as a tear fell down her cheek.

"No." Venus answered taking her a seat where Minako had once occupied, Usagi could almost see the chair clearly although Venus perched upon it. "But I assume you already knew that deep down in your heart." The soft smile was unearthly, and although it had been meant to give comfort, it was clear the feeling wasn't understood. "Usagi...listen. A lot of things happened that your mother didn't want anyone to know about, not even you. She wished dearly for many things however the deepest wish was for you to be happy. All of you. Rei may close herself off for a while, but that's because Mars has finally gotten Rei to agree. She spends most of her time asleep due to her memory restoration. It'll be easier on her if she just sleeps through it. Anyway, I know you have questions, and you want to protect them...but really, the only ones who could possibly help Rei are the ones who understand her nature most. I fear to say that it may take a long time before she does accept things."

"Tell me Venus, what happened back then...What happened to you." It wasn't a question, or a request. Even if she had followed this girl at one point, Venus didn't hold such ties anymore. If it was because Usagi seemed childish, or because she knew well of the ideals within, Venus just looked on around the room. Unanswered questions stirring within them both.

"I could tell you." Venus sighed a moment later. "But I shouldn't tell you, and that princess is the key. Those girls have all suffered greatly in many ways, but not all of those things are able to mend. Wounds may heal, but a scar will always remain, even if you cannot see it. Rei is realizing that now. For years she's followed you without little more than a question in her mind. However, for her to become the warrior she needs to be, burdens of the past must settle upon her, and only her. If you wish to help, you will burden her more. She won't run to you, she's not going to entrust you with her failures. Rei simply isn't like that, and neither is Minako. Even if they wanted to dump all of their transgressions on you, they wouldn't do that, ever." She looked at Rei's door and shook her head. "Rei especially would rather die than place you into danger."

"Then what do I do?" Usagi shouted. "Rei's suffering because of some horrible nightmare come true and you expect me to do what? Sit by and do nothing?" The blond wouldn't believe that. She refused to think for a moment that Rei would lock herself away and not trust herself. "What do you want me to do Venus?" Her eyes filled with tears. "What do I need to do!"

"That's for you to decide." The apparition spoke rather plainly. "However, I do have a bit of advise. Those girls think themselves to be worthless. All of them are nothing compared to you in the grand scheme. It will not be the value you place on them that will save them from damnation, but rather, the value they place upon each other. Both as equals, and as Senshi. Think on that fact and you'll see what needs to be done."

TBC!

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Please bear with me as I get back into my normal swing of fan fiction...being away for any length of time tends to make me a bit rusty...next one will be better.


	52. Arc 2, Chapter 8

A/N: Well, I'm back with a new chapter. I want to thank everyone who puts up with my now horribly slow updating speed. Real life is not on my side as far as having free time. It shouldn't last too long, at least, I would hope not. Anyway here's the next chapter.

I don't own Sailor Moon.

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Arc 2, Chapter 8: Values

The apparition of Venus had left Usagi feeling lost and confused. The hint hadn't amounted for much. She was the moon princess and the girls were her Senshi. Although she called them friends, they followed her command. She knew that and yet...it seemed far too simple an answer. All of them placed value on each other. They were fast friends, easily considered family within their own right. She placed the world on their hands, her own life upon their shoulders...they did the same for her in a far greater light. She sighed. If that really was true, then why did Rei also try to protect her from little more than a bad dream? Usagi just couldn't be sure.

It was real...  
Yet...  
It also wasn't real.

Not the way it should be anyway. The girl, the ghost, she had been battered, bruised. Bloodied up, and yet no longer feeling. She was horrific, the mere sight a sickening truth to behold. Yet, looking around, so was the other one. The figment of a dream. Saturn wasn't something that looked dead, merely it was the truth, the knowledge that she was that sent a chill down Usagi's spine. After all, she had seen her friends before. There was a time they stood before her as fallen Senshi. They told her not to cry, not to feel remorse. However, their bodies had been peaceful, happy souls. Those without regret. Likely, that was the difference. That death had been one they could be happy with, one they did correctly. She wasn't sure. Her seat on the wooden bench was disturbed when the little unholy being pawed at her lap.

With great disdain, and slight inward fear she pat the being on her head. It was the first time she touched the ghostly figure. She could feel nothing but spirit. Air that didn't feel normal, power seeking warmth and comfort. Something there, and yet, not. The creature was still hardly tangible to the eyes, let alone have a body able to feel touch. Still, it seemed to comfort the feral girl. All in all, Usagi sighed. This was the one Rei accepted around her more than anyone. Often, the wild child even slept at the foot of Rei's bed, an attachment hardly explicable. Saturn cuddled into Usagi then, as if it was offering her a level of trust.

"Setsuna-mama?" That came from Hotaru who sat in the grass, her mother unseen by others as she stood behind the tree seeking privacy. "If she was a past me, then why was the power that awakened me happier...well, not happy, but she could talk. When she came she was kinda purple and a bit ghostly, but she was different. An older me, but much more positive in the way she seemed."

"Likely, it was because of how you died in battle beforehand." Setsuna could really explain it. "Usagi reset a lot of things, including the rebirth. When she did, I think she also reset a part of you, and what you were. She asked for things to go back to normal, however beyond that was a wish that things hadn't gone the way they did. I think part of that transcended time and space in and of itself. The Black Moon clan for example, although it was before your time, they would have had to exist in a place in the past in order for them to know about the future. They would not have followed Chibiusa unless they had powers of time and space, powers much like my own. How else could they have known about Usagi? Time and space are muddled rivers filled with possibilities. You are not exempt from that Hotaru."

"I still can't believe some of the things I saw." Looking down at her feet she sighed. There was apart of her memory that confused her. Even more so, was the fact that this memory didn't transcend time like it should have, at least, not the way it could have. "Mama..." Setsuna bristled at that. Hotaru wasn't using a name. She hardly added a name to her only papa, but this time Hotaru forwent adding a name, forgoing adding a difference for her motherly figure. "Why doesn't she love me anymore?" That wasn't ever a good sign. It stripped them away from being fellow Senshi. Hotaru only did that in rare cases.

Setsuna sighed at that. This was the one thing she knew Hotaru wouldn't be ready for. As a Senshi Hotaru knew her place. This had been her worry. With Hotaru's memories coming back as more than just her intended task, the frightful girl now wondered about what would have been. "She never really loved you in the first place. It was more the fact of pity than love. She wanted you to be happy, and I think she regret when you died, but I can tell you right now, she never saw you as a child in which she would ever parent. There was no instinct that made her care for you. Then again, you and I are far more like sisters than we are parent and child."

"No." The small teen shook her head. She wasn't going to believe that. "She held me. She protected me. Papa was like that too. Papa hated me at first didn't she? But she loves me now right? So is Makoto...she's a mama too? Couldn't she be one? If she really wanted, shouldn't she be one? Or is she like papa?" The emotions inside of her heart waged war as she walked away from that tree. It wasn't like she didn't have a loving home, but her memories were hard. Haruka and Michiru weren't family back then, hated her back then so much so that her memory, her ghostly soul attacked Haruka if the blond got close. It was out of fear, but it did make things hard.

"What's got you all in a huff?" That came from the tall auburn haired girl leaning on the side of the house. She was waiting outside of Rei's bedroom window on guard. She wasn't in the best of moods, but then again, as of right now she hardly ever was. Looking around, she didn't see any of the outer Senshi. That was rare. Hotaru wasn't the type to stray far from her family. The girl sat down, leaning on the rough housing not saying a word even if her eyes spoke volumes. Sadness not uttered, fear unspoken. "Hotaru?"

"Leave the kid be. She's always been like that. She's fine, trust me." That had come from the green crystal.  
"I have a name you know." It was indignant, but Hotaru couldn't find a way to express herself otherwise.  
"I know. You're kid. I've always called you that." The reply only annoyed the two living beings.  
"Shut up you stupid thing." That came from Makoto. She wasn't fond of herself, or of what she saw as a weakness. Her past was swarming with it. Now, and back then.  
"Like hell I will." The green crystal chuckled. She pulled forth her body even if it wasn't because her owner wanted it.

Hotaru looked up them. Jupiter was only slightly taller, however she was much more muscular and far more crass looking. The words "Screw off" still plastered her forehead unabashed and without worry of who might find offense. It was very much like her papa. That was likely why her eyes filled with tears she couldn't explain. She wanted, needed to understand. Then she looked back at Makoto. The person who was still tangible. These beings were different. Not only by age, they were just different people by nature. The sun and moon in comparison, much like herself and Saturn. They were one in the same by a glance, but the truth remained far different.

The apparition rolled her eyes shrugging at the small teen. "Kid, stop crying. It isn't going to help anything. This one is a stubborn mule with her head so far up her own ass she couldn't possibly be a parent for you. I'm not alive though." Jupiter never was soft. Not like Setsuna. Even in her moments of being comforting, the level of crass views always stayed the same. A rebel among all the rest. And yet, still, when Saturn came scampering at high speeds Hotaru saw it. That protective instinct.

"Look, I know you hate me but I don't really care. I am you, as much as you hate to admit that." Jupiter said directly at Makoto as she picked up the feral child, the girl happily obedient. "However, like it or not, I have my responsibilities. She's one of them." Makoto looked carefully. Parent and child they may not have been, but a protective glare challenged anyone to dare defy what had just been spoken. "I'll go make myself hidden if you want, but I'm not going in that crystal until I'm good and ready. You have my power Kino Makoto, but, you do not have my spirit."

"Yeah, well didn't you ever think that may be a good thing..." Makoto spat. By that time, Jupiter had already walked into the forest. The ghostly figure likely hardly even heard her. If she had, Jupiter wouldn't have taken heed.  
"It isn't." Hotaru's voice was filled with quiet but very clear anger. "It isn't. Not for her...or me."  
"Hotaru...what are you-" Confusion was a difficult landmine, and one not to be provoked if anyone was smart.

"She's gone." Hotaru's voice wasn't easily accepting of the facts. "Mama can't be her caregiver anymore. I'm only Saturn's warden. She's on my chain. But, I can't...she's me, and I can't be what I need." Hotaru shivered. This cold feeling, one of regret and remorse...she hated it so very much, in so many ways. "Setsuna-mama is alive, she's with us...but she...Saturn is dead Makoto. She can't ever come back like that. Not while I'm here. You...I mean Jupiter, that's all she...we couldn't ever be what she needs, but, Jupiter. She can." It was something Jupiter understood, a fact she knew. Something Makoto didn't. Makoto didn't have too. Not in this life. "She can be who Saturn needs, even if you...you can't be who I need."

Needing each other. That was part of being a Senshi. They did need each other. Every breath, every moment, every move, everything. The Senshi were nothing without each other. Rei had reflected on that a lot. She felt as if she was worthless, but now that she was awake and sitting at the edge of her bed, she couldn't help but feel like kicking herself. The feral girl had spent enough time with Rei now. She knew that the past was the past, the future not yet attained. Rei knew all of those truths from before, but now she carried a deep weight. It was a burden that while heavy wasn't going to kill her. Not if she didn't let it anyway. She had always been a fighter, why should now be any different? She wished she could come up with something. Anything.

Instead she stood, unable to think, uncaring about anything. She simply walked out of the shrines doors. The sun was out, it was beautiful. Wasn't it always that way? Rei couldn't remember. Instead she looked at the faces, those shocked to see her standing, let alone outside. Repent. That's what she had to do, what she was forced to do now. She had no excuse for failing them, for failing her. Usagi would always forgive. Rei know that. Still, she felt as if she were trash. She let everyone down in the last life...she failed Minako.

Without looking at anyone she walked out into the middle of the grass. Everyone saw her, though no one made a move. With one knee, then both touching the dirt, she fell forward. The ground was hard, the soil gritty. Still she didn't move. The lawn plush and green, it too was beautiful. "I'm sorry." she sighed out. She could tell they were afraid to say anything, to do anything. She lifted her face, tears falling from them in a broken, remorseful way. "I'm sorry." Her eyes blurred with the reality of how much she had locked away.

Usagi ran then, toppling over into the grass, Minako no more than a step behind. Hotaru ran quickly, falling too, although not nearly as haphazardly. The others followed, although honestly they came slowly, filled with apprehension. Hugs, unity. That's what Rei felt. Usagi clung but so too did Minako. Forgiveness wasn't spoken, it was felt. A wave of tears, both happy and sad flowing from twin pairs of blue eyes. One was their princess, the other was her lover. Life hadn't changed despite the facts. Everyone was rendered speechless, fearing saying the wrong thing. It was tense, it was fragile, but it was a light of hope, a moment of unknown.

Atop the steps there was something shimmering from a crystal, white light that never left it's place. It never could alone, it never would without help. "They'll be alright now." Venus said, It was a memory of a brighter day, well, perhaps it wasn't bright that day, but the memory was one of a nearby time. "You stayed and told us everything, but, Usagi and the rest, we're just fine now. You don't really need to stay. We beat Beryl, Black Moon, Death busters and many more. You don't have to stay, not anymore." The light flickered a few more times before the crystal became dark again, the light that had been shimmering stopped.

"Do you really think that was wise?" Mars asked, she was younger... This memory was so recent in fact, that had everyone turned around, they would have seen themselves.  
"The Queen doesn't need to stay." Venus smiled. "We did some pretty dumb things back then, didn't we?"  
"Yeah, we did." Mars agreed. "Do you think it was right...After all, those are actually our bodies. Not that I think us from the millennium aren't smart and all, but..."  
"I know. But we couldn't have ever lived again. Usagi reset us, remember? As far as they know, they did die, and were reborn." Venus smiled, looking on at what would have been herself, if she hadn't died.

"I just wonder if that soul is exactly that same as me or if...I don't know." Mars laughed then, looking at her body. In the tree even if nobody saw them, two older memories watched on, both hand in hand. "Rei, well, me I mean...I didn't take my death that badly when I first found out...I wonder why it hit them all so hard now...you know, after everything they've gone through?"

"I would assume that's because as we die, we learn humanity. The older they get, the closer they become." Another Saturn spoke from beyond the door frame, she was hidden. "If Hotaru ever cough the two of you here, she would totally maim you guys. You know that, right?" Then she laughed a bit before coughing, holding her chest in slight annoyance. It may not have hurt anymore, but the memory still held on just the same. "If I were you, I'd leave. We aren't really needed any more."

They nodded. The trio left without so much as a goodbye. Setsuna smiled, that was another wonderful part of fate. Being a mage allowed you to see many things, and being dead also gifted you that truth. She watched on as the three memories walked away. They wouldn't ever come back, but in all reality, they didn't need to. Then she looked back on the grass laughing to herself. They were all still alive, even if it was because of a paradox, a letter, a few breaches in code, and a lie. They were still alive. In the past Setsuna had wanted to defy fate. She did, although at the time it seemed like a horrible mistake. They all made a stand. Yeah, it wasn't easy, but the facts were clear.

They made it.

Now, all they had to do was live life. Looking at Hotaru she sighed again. Sometimes just living was easier said than done.

TBC~

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One hurdle cleared, a new one to jump. That's what it's always like for the Sailor Senshi isn't it? I think so. I'm happy to finally say that I like where Rei is this far in the fiction. I was going to give her a happier moment of truth, but I thought better than to do so. I think I like the fact she accepted it better than having her get over the matter, but, that's just me. Setsuna/Makoto chapter ahead, as well as some more Rei/Minako now that Rei's out of the woods. Though, I'll tell you now, even if Rei accepted it, that doesn't mean all is at peace. I know this chapter was a long time coming, but the next one won't be nearly as long of a wait since I've already got it planned out. I just need to type it.

When I have free time, I will. Please leave a review.


	53. Arc 2, Chapter 9

A/N: Alright, major against warning. I think I made Makoto a bit aggressive, more so than even I'd normally envision her to get, but, I think given the situation it isn't out of the realm of possibility. Since this chapter got longer than I thought it out to be, this one will remain only for Makoto/Setsuna, however to counterbalance that, the next chapter will be devoted to Rei and Minako's storyline.

I don't own Sailor Moon.

Arc 2, Chapter 9: Tell Me.

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"Get away from me.." The warning was one of malice and slight fear. If it hadn't been for the little feral creature Rei would have never left the confines of her room, but it still didn't mean Makoto trusted it fully. Instead she felt hate. She was unsure why, but she dearly wished the Saturn of the past would go away. She kicked at it, making the little Senshi ghost cower in slight fear under the coffee table. She looked at Makoto as if she didn't understand. What had been slight toleration at best, progressed into pure hate. Saturn couldn't figure out why. Again she got closer. A mistake indeed. "No I Said!" Makoto shouted roughly. "Go away." Her voice sound more upset than angry.

"Let her be. She doesn't understand why you're so aggressive. Only that you are." Jupiter's memory was calm and peaceful, although truthfully, her melancholic gaze remained unspoken truth. "Come here kid. No sense in annoying her." Pity was underlying the tone. Jupiter laughed lightly at the confused look that it earned her. "Come along now, she doesn't want you." Saturn looked back at the annoyed teen and like a confused puppy. "We'll go play someplace else." Jupiter called again.

The child obeyed, scurrying her way across Makoto's living room and into the arms of her most unwelcome caregiver. It seemed odd, this child needed constant mothering. Jupiter walked off into the air then, making herself unseen. "Freakish thing." Makoto muttered aggravated. This had gone on for several days now, and she couldn't say she was coping well at all. Sighing she stood finding her shoes. It wouldn't do her any good to just sit around. Leaving her transformation pen inside of a subspace pocket she walked out of her home. As long as that pen wasn't near her, neither was that annoyance of a past life. "The dead should stay dead damn it." Her voice quivered under her breath.

"The dead are where they belong." Hotaru. Why she outside of the apartment building became sickeningly apparent as the little creature of hell sat at her side. "You just can't seem to accept it." Makoto kept walking, ignoring the teen behind her. "Give her back!" Makoto froze. "Give her back. Now. Otherwise I will not be held responsible for my actions." Hotaru sounded hurt, vengefully so. The voice of innocence lost. Darkness seeped into every last word. Even someone as powerful as Makoto knew Hotaru wasn't just playing around.

"You want her?" The question was sincere, but also threatening. Hotaru nodded then, not speaking, only looking. Those pink eyes more than a simple request. "Have it then. I can't take her any longer anyway." Makoto pulled the pen from the pocket and tossed it at Hotaru, the pen landing with a clank on the ground. "Just keep it safe." With that Makoto continued on, she could feel her crystal being used, her memory again becoming something for the eyes. She couldn't say she cared any longer though. She would always be a Senshi, but that was as far as it went. That transformation didn't dictate her life. It never had, and for a long time it still wouldn't. That's what she forced herself to believe.

Even if she could play pretend, it didn't change the facts. Some of them more painful than she cared to admit. There were very few with the answers she needed, even less of those people had the resolve to do so. However if there was one woman who could recall it, would be Setsuna be the one. Even if that were true though, she couldn't help feeling bad for Hotaru. The girl had been hanging around her apartment quite a lot recently. The request came from the barbaric monster that could only be Saturn. "Why do I get stuck with this baggage?" She sighed "I'm the only one who ever deals with it. All of it." It was only a half truth, but the facts weren't easy regardless.

Her walk was slow and labored. Her breathing tense. Unlike Rei's panic attack, Makoto knew fully well what she was doing, what she saw was not only a memory she had refused. No, it would be easy if it had only been that. Trash on the ground, passers by, water fountains...so many things that belonged in daily life she took for granted. Places she saw everyday, people that she knew were nearby residents, this was the life she knew. The life she understood. With her hands in her pockets, her eyes focused on the pavement, she continued her long walk forcing every movement deliberately, feeling that if she didn't, she would fall down and never stand again. Her worries weren't eased at all when she finally came to the steps that signed her fate away. A dotted line that she would etch across in pen, unable to erase her actions or her words.

She knocked on the door, Setsuna wordlessly allowing her in. They didn't really need speech, however, if they were going to converse, they had only one topic of interest. Hotaru. She was the only real concern for either of them, granted the reasons it existed were far different. "You've taken longer than I thought you would. Three days, a new record." Setsuna was softly spoken. "Are you done procrastinating? Or, are you merely here to pick a fight." Her words were troubled, something hidden deeply within them.

"You know why I'm here." Makoto stood the the doorway, fists clenched. It would be so easy to let loose.  
"No, I don't, actually." She gestured towards the living room. "If you would like, we may talk in the next room."

Makoto curtly nodded, her agreement unspoken. "You planned this." Still, she was on the offensive.  
"You place far too much faith in my abilities." Setsuna sighed. Everyone did that.

"Well, I don't have any reason not to point fingers. You always know everything, even when you have no right to any information." Makoto's eyes were filled with rage, but behind that a small amount of fear didn't help her already raging emotions. "You knew I would come here. You know why I'm angry. There isn't any reason for you to know, I haven't even told you, and yet, I bet you know even more than that. I bet you see more of our lives than you ever let on. Those damned gates show you everything."

"I already told you, I don't know the reason you've come. I'm not lying when I tell you that." Setsuna took a seat, offering for Makoto to do the same. She could almost feel fate becoming angered, almost imploring her to use her powers. "I could be told. I would be told, however, this doesn't concern the time line. Fate could tell me, even wants to tell me, but I'm refusing it's whim right now." She only blinked for a second, knowing more than she wanted, and yet not enough for fate. "I want you to tell me Makoto. I know I could find out, we both know I can have access to that information, but I want to hear it from you."

Makoto sent a hard glare at Setsuna. Her anger dissolving into confusion and bitterness. "You lied." It was as if she was a three year old reprimanding a parent. "You lied to me...to all of us about our past. We fought for Usagi because we believed in her and in ourselves, but those memories...they aren't anything like what we had been told. We never knew just how far things went. What really happened? I have a right to know."

"You're correct, you do have that right." As if testing her words carefully, Setsuna had been tempted to look into the future. It would have been so easy to cheat through this, the call of fate telling her to do so. Instead, defying her keeper, she refused answers for both herself, and the angry teen in front of her. "However, fate wishes me not to say a word. I couldn't possibly tell you, or, I would be abusing the power handed to me. I'm very limited in what I can and can not say, but it is not because I don't want to say it, it's because right now I'm defying orders merely by agreeing with you. It would be very easy to send more lies you're way, and fate wishes me to do just that." Then as if composing herself for something she continued. "However, that doesn't mean I can't point you in the right direction."

"No, I want the right answers." Makoto's voice began to get angry again. "I can't trust many things, or many people. I don't even know if I can trust you either, but right now Setsuna I'm giving you one chance to redeem yourself. One chance at proving your loyalty to me and the rest of the Sailor Senshi. If you can't even do that, then all you'll ever be in my eyes is a threat, and you know what we do to threats Setsuna. Don't make me question your intentions further."

A cynical chuckle wafted through the room, Setsuna eye's sharpened. It was as if she was preparing an attack, defensive or offensive it didn't matter. Her guard had been up from the start of this conversation, her abilities telling her that combat wasn't fatal. Then again, it wasn't ever truly fatal anyway. Only painful. Her mind provoked more answers from fate, ones Setsuna further rejected as she searched emerald green eyes just as malicious. Just as deadly. "I'd like to see you try to attack me. I know your every move. Striking me down will only provoke a battle you can not win, simply because I know what you will do directly before you do it. I can't override information about something that will kill me, and you are strong enough that you could possibly do so."

"Don't act like a god!" Makoto flew from her seat, jumping over the coffee table and onto the sofa Setsuna perched upon. The mage was being pressed down roughly on the fabric, however she didn't fight back. Still, her eyes showed no fear, no remorse. "Don't just sit there damn it. Fight me. Fight me if that's what you want, but don't just sit there looking so smug, like you know every move I do...don't sit there and act so fucking brave when you've told me my entire life is a sham!" Makoto's scream was broken by the tears in her eyes, severed from the dry air forced upon her hoarse voice.

"I'm not god. I'm a slave. I do as I'm told, or I suffer the consequences of my actions gravely. I'm chained in, and no matter how hard I fight, no matter what I do, I'm still only a person forced by command. Fate has my collar and it isn't letting me go. Not until I'm dead by Hotaru's hands." She could feel Makoto squeezing her wrists tightly, the blood flow cutting off, her hands going numb from the force. She knew that feeling well, even if it wasn't tangible that feeling never went away. It always remained in her heart. That guilt gave this feeling, never relenting, never forgiving. "Even if you killed me now, I would come back to life by the hands of my keeper. My time isn't now, and won't be for several thousand years. Even if you strike me until I no longer breathe, I would still return here when fate wishes me to do so."

Makoto didn't speak, her eyes focused on the woman before her. Setsuna had let something down, a wall she seemingly always kept up had fallen from around her. The veil of perfection showing something far more disturbing. A broken, withered woman spoke from those lips. Someone who had seen far too much already, had known more than she had ever wanted. That part had always been hidden from view, but for some reason, Makoto could see it now. That sickly stare almost begging to be abused, begging to be taken away from this earth. "Your lying." Makoto's voice shook. "Stop lying!"

"I'm not." That look was still there, those eyes still open books of truth. "Makoto, honey, I'm telling you what I can." Her voice was softer then, as if she was a mother hen protecting her chick. "I know it isn't what you want to hear, but I'm telling you all I can." She felt the iron like grip ease into nothingness, Makoto's hands at rest as she towered over the Senshi chained into fate. Setsuna wanted nothing more than to ease that confusion, ease that pain she saw there. She pulled Makoto down then, one hand stroking thick locks of auburn hair while the other kept her close. "Your life isn't a sham Makoto. But you know what? I personally think that's the worst part about it."

She broke then. That tall brash girl, the one able to snap most people like a twig fell victim inside of her own memories. Truth and lies muddled and she couldn't see clearly. What had she been told? What had people done? Fate hadn't given her anything near a happy life, and little did she realize that fate happened twice in more ways that it should have, more ways that it normally would have. As if all of her emotions then became her own failures, she hid. Clutching onto Setsuna more afraid than she had even been before, and somehow, even through her own convolution, her own inward pity, she felt a single stray tear fall into her hair.

What ever happened back then, it haunted Setsuna too. Of that Makoto knew.

TBC~~~

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Gods, have I ever mentioned how much I like toying with Setsuna? She's such a great villain in her own right. Not because her intentions are bad, but just because of what she can and can't do. She's like the good guy playing devil's advocate, and I don't know why, but I love that part of her...anyway, I digress. Minako/Rei to come later on. I didn't want to make this chapter any longer than it already was or you all would be in for more waiting than necessary since the snow right now is horrendous. We lost power three times today on and off, and before I tempt sod's law again, I'm posting it as it is.

Please leave a review.


	54. Arc 2, Chapter 10

A/N: Alright, so this was the ended half of the last chapter that I wanted to work with before I posted it. It's tense, almost so much so I half wanted to tone it down, but seeing as this is the first Minako/Rei situation after Rei leaves her room for the first time, I didn't want too fluff it up just yet. Granted, after this chapter, I can guarantee that I need some major fluff soon. Anyway, please read and review.

I do not own Sailor Moon.

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Arc 2, Chapter 10: Yours.

"It's funny you know." Minako sat under the nighttime sky. There were hardly any stars out, most covered up by clouds. The sky was an ugly color. Not because it was about to rain, but because the clouds were so dark it seemed like she was sitting inside of an abyss, not on a hill. The park never had visitors this late at night. Even if the gates were up, telling people that it was closed until morning, Minako hadn't any trouble sneaking inside. Her dark blue jeans and black top made her hardly visible, her blond hair pale and even that was hard to see. Had it not been for the good eyesight gifted by Senshi powers she would be blinded by how dark it was. The occasional streetlamp didn't offer solace, only making the place seem more unnatural. Had she not been waiting for him, Minako likely would have screamed when her visitor finally showed up. "She says she moving on, but I don't think she is. Not really."

"At least she's out of her bedroom." Artemis had a valid point there. Rei did seem to be getting better when everyone was in a group. "Didn't she join everyone at the mall today too?"  
"Yeah, but Makoto and Setsuna didn't. In fact, I don't even know where they are." Then she sighed, another person coming to mind. "Hotaru bailed too, she said she had important things to do."  
"Setsuna never has been very social, and Makoto goes off on her own quite a lot. I wouldn't worry." He was a cat and never understood humans.  
"Then what about Hotaru?" Minako was grilling him, as if he knew. "She may be one of us, but she still pulls away when she shouldn't."  
"So did Rei, and I remember a time long ago when you pulled away from your best friends and I for roughly the same reason."

His retort was merely scoffed at. Minako knew part of that was true, but he forgot one key detail. "I was in England, and my friends weren't Senshi." She ran her nails down his white fur while she thought about the past. "If I told them what was going on, I don't think I'd be here right now. You're a cat Artemis, not a human. I mean, you don't get it sometimes. You're like a second father in your own little way, but there are things I don't even tell dad either." Her eyes peered on, watching her target. Rei move deeper into the park, towards the small fountain no doubt. "She's on the move again."

"Luna can see her from the trees." If a cat could shrug, that's what he would be doing as he jumped up so that he could lay across Minako's shoulders. "If anyone thought Rei was really in danger, trust me when I'd say that Usagi would have had everyone following her."

"I know that." Minako's voice shook at the thought. "Still, she's been acting strange still and I'd rather not leave her alone. Besides, what if something does happen? I doubt you or Luna could do anything besides panic." An idea came to mind. It wasn't exactly smart since Rei didn't know she was being followed, but it had to be better than sneaking around. "You and Luna pull back. I'm going to follow Rei on my own for a while." She pulled the white cat off her, placing him on the ground. "Don't follow us."

She ran off down the path Rei had taken trusting Artemis to inform Luna. He looked as if he would disapprove, but made no retort. He had trained Minako to follow her heart, not her brain, and sometimes he resented that small part of her training. Regardless, she was a strong Sailor Senshi, and a proper Venus, although admittedly, she wasn't nearly as careful as she had been in her past. He not only remembered that part of her life about as well as Setsuna, he remembered when he was little more than an adolescent himself, still only a kitten in training. Back then he spent much of his time following around the late queens of the old forgotten moon. Learning from them, and his parents, as Luna learned from her own. While it was true that that Minako was different now, he couldn't deny that she was far more like the late Queen of Venus. That in and of itself wasn't exactly a bad thing.

He did as he was told, going off to find Luna. She was close by, her scent in the air. He sighed, she would be coming into heat again soon, and once again he would be tortured by her persistent need to start nesting everything in sight. It was only natural after all, they too would be parents in the future. Until then it was only right that she find other measures to keep herself occupied, and as far as humans went, Usagi and the others were still quite young. Luna found a particular level of importance in trying to do anything she could to make them into proper Senshi of the future. Unfortunately, that also included verbally harassing the girls about their personal lives as well. He was happy he stopped her in time relaying the information Minako had ordered.

Meanwhile, the blond was in pursuit of her goal, namely, Rei. The Senshi of fire had stopped at the fountain, as had been predicted. She seemed lost in thought, and Minako feared to say anything. Rei had wanted to be alone, that much had been clear. Her gaze remained transfixed on the water before her. So much so that it was odd that she was so insightful. Minako could feel Rei's aggravation, but she hadn't thought the girl would act on it. But, act she did. Rather bluntly, but also very systematic. As if she was a spider catching her pray. Her body turned slowly, she then sat on the brick. Her eyes closed, but her posture tense. She was angry, but there was also something else, something Minako couldn't read. That could only mean one thing...

"Why can't you understand it?" Minako's voice was very soft, but very carefully placed.  
"I have no need to understand it." Rei's power may have been fire, but her words were ice cold.  
"You're conflicted." Minako knew better than that. Rei never got quiet, not like this.  
"How could I not be?" Rei eyes opened, but didn't betray her at all. She was like a stone.  
"The better question is; why shouldn't you be..." The face was also a mirror. Mostly because Minako knew that question.

"I should be." Rei nodded. "I have your blood on my hands. How do I live with myself after that?" Rei bit her lip. It would be so easy to be cold to Minako, push her away. It would hurt, yes. But it would protect them both. Rei wanted protection, but...she didn't want to be alone. "I've asked myself a lot of things recently. How do I go on, how do I even think about breathing...why should I keep breathing. It would be so easy given my nature. I've done it before for Usagi, I could do it again for anyone...it would be easy to do it." Looking back into the water she couldn't look at Minako in the face. "I am my bloodline. I am a Martian...aren't I?"

"No." Minako took a step forward. Part of her wanted to hold Rei, protect her from herself, but these questions weren't ones that were forged from that type of help. Happy pills couldn't cure a past life, a different world filled with transgressions no amount of prayers could forgive. There wasn't any way to save Rei from something like this. "You're human, one born of Earth." There wasn't any real way to explain their nature, not anymore. "It is true, we are like our past, but back then we knew our planet and only our planet. Any other way of life was deemed questionable at best, reasons to take lives at worst."

"Then tell me why the urge to fight grows stronger in me every time I get angry!" Rei wanted to cry, but that emotion was clouded with Martian anger, one that was fueled by her powers, and by her past. Not by her human soul and her human upbringing. This was her battle now. To define herself as who and what she really was. Minako had blazed that trail long before anyone could find out, and rightfully so. Everyone would change, and it would all end up neutrality in the end. "Why do I want to fight and kill so badly that I can actually envision carnage by my hands...why do I actually like it?"

"You don't like it, Rei. If you liked it, you would have done it." Damn this conversation seemed similar. Then again, it would be. Minako remembered these words well, and she closed her eyes, willing away what she knew Rei was doing. "You don't want to relive this moment. Going through the motions won't help. If you liked the idea of death, someone would be dead, maybe even me." The blond ran her fingers through her hair, trying to make sense of Rei conflict. "It would be me." She resigned herself to that. "If you really were what you saw, and only what you saw, I would already be dead Rei. We both know this."

"I don't know anything." Rei's words were shaken if nothing else.  
"You know enough." Minako knew Rei was the type to seek answers. That's just who she was.  
"Just leave me alone for now, alright." She came to the park to get away from prying eyes, not to provoke a confrontation.  
"No." Minako dismissed the request as if it had been for a jolly snack, or a trip to the crown.  
"Go." Rei urged her anger down, she didn't know what she would do if she let it loose. She couldn't seem to control it.

"Let it go." Minako took a step closer, knowing she was going to be placing herself in danger. Really, right at this moment, she couldn't care less. She and death were fast friends after all, why not greet it again if that's what this inner demon wished so strongly. Rei did nothing, standing stock still and utterly petrified. "Rei." Minako spoke quietly, the girl of raven tresses could hardly hear her. "It's alright to be afraid of it. Martian power is a very scary hing to confront alone." She could almost feel the waves of inner guilt push her away like an ocean current. Rei had always been a difficult girl, right now anyone could see just how weak she was. Not as a fighter, not as Hino Rei in daily life, but as a lover.

Rei wasn't responding, but it was clear just how much that insecurity was eating away at her. Long lost words rang true once again, but it wasn't Rei who was speaking them. "We can be dark people Minako. We Martians can have a very dark and possessive side that we fear, this fear haunts us greatly. Because of our spiritual prowess, at night we can become extremely uncertain of the future. Premonitions can mingle with our greatest nightmares, and these things, Minako, they can consume us into becoming the type of Martian you fear. I am not, and will never be exempt from that rule. I am disciplined, but, when the chips are down, when I am well and truly afraid, I may not be strong enough to resist that side of me that becomes the true woman of war, the possessive power that has given my people a bad name. When it happens it is a frightening thing, as my lover, you may have to see, or even face that side of me." It was Minako.

That memory was so vivid, so real, even now. "Isn't that what you said that evening?" Minako found Rei's eyes to be like those of a deer facing headlights. Waiting for judgment from a source seemingly so pure, yet so frighting. "Isn't that what you asked me?" Rei looked confused. Lost within her own abyss. "You don't remember it, do you. The questions you asked me, the fears you spoke of back then." Rei shook her head the negative. She didn't know about any of that. The words vaguely familiar, those memories not yet surfacing fully. "Rei, I knew what I was walking into. I'm not stupid now and I wasn't stupid then. I knew you could become dangerous, and guess what, it's nighttime and you're alone." Minako hated doing this. Reliving the past wasn't something she found helpful, but for Rei, it was necessary.

"I shouldn't have left you alone that night. I will not repeat the same mistake tonight." She walked towards Rei slowly, unsure if she should allow herself to pull Rei into a much sought after embrace or not. "I did what I should have as the Senshi I was, but as your lover I failed you, favoring Usagi over you. It wasn't any wonder that you would attack me in vengeance. I didn't stay by your side and it nearly got you killed. Regardless if it was my duty as a Senshi or not, it was my choices to leave your side in battle that caused you worry. If I hadn't...then I don't know, but it wouldn't have ended like that."

"But it would have ended." Rei was assured of that much. There was no saving that kingdom. "We were doomed to burn in a hell worse than you could ever think about. It didn't matter how it happened or not, we would have ended up the same way." Rei knew it. "But, that still doesn't change the fact that I did it. If we had died lovers or at least at the hands of others I could at least resign myself to understand that. But this? This reality, I can't. You died by my hands." Rei wanted so much to send herself into hell with a blast of fire. "I'm a sinner...in more ways than one."

"You damn idiot." Minako could barely keep herself from slapping Rei stupid, not that the raven was doing it enough to herself verbally. "It was my fault Rei. It always has been and it always will be. Martians are very strong warriors, but that's why they were feared back in the old days. They could be easily consumed by blood lust, driven mad by body counts, you weren't the one to blame. That's why Martians used to fight together. As a team, as a unit they stood together, but alone they become weakened and unprepared. You weren't left out of that, and you even warned me long before our relationship started. You told me that one day I may have had to face it down, head on. There wasn't any thing else you could have done."

"I can't believe that." As if finding her power, darkened and tainted with her own malice, forged by self-hatred, tempered by frustration, Rei had nowhere to go. No place to hide, to justify her actions of the past. Who was she? Martian, or human. She wondered that a lot on the battle field. Still, she was Hino Rei. Her name was true, but it was just a label. It didn't explain who or what she was. She hated that feeling, so indistinguishable. Was she so worthless? So powerless that she, herself could be worse than any opponent she had faced down. "I refuse to believe it...but, I also refuse to believe anything told by those cats anymore either. I can't."

"Does it really matter anymore?" That tone froze Rei. Minako sounded so frail, so brokenly fragile. "Either way, it would have been a bloodbath." As if tears could quell Rei more than logic, pull away this angered feeling, or at least mold it into something anew, Minako showed her own darkness, her own haunting memories. "Saturn could have ended us, Beryl could have blasted us all to the hell you so wish to burn in. Even the people of Earth did a well enough job that we wouldn't have had to worry. We lost. Despite all of the past, forgetting every crime and sin committed, we're alive now aren't we?"

"Minako I-" Rei wasn't sure what she could say, but it seemed the blond hadn't wanted an answer.

"Stop!" Spoken through heartfelt sobs, Minako couldn't say any more than that. Her body shook as she took a few steps forward. She was terrified of what Rei would do, but she was also afraid of the cold the night offered her. She wanted warmth. Needed it, and clung onto Rei. The pavement cutting into their legs as the both went down hard. It stung, the feeling of life, of reddened flesh, marred but the slight trickle of a blood that she knew stained her jeans. The cut hardly there, and soon would vanish. This was their life. Immortal to an extent, unable to die. Yet, it was their memories that reminded them of just how easily that could change. "Just stop."

Rei hadn't spoken then, true to her form. She wasn't a woman who knew how to comfort others, Rei hadn't ever been as well with her words as she would have liked. But still, she couldn't hold her rage anymore. Not when she was needed. She knew that much. She didn't let it go, merely, locking it deeply as she sighed the pain away. Pulling Minako closer she stood up, transforming and leaving into the night. There was no shelter, no place to protect them, and Rei was the protector. She had to be. Her lavender eyes scanned the darkness as she jumped roof top after roof top. The city didn't seem safe anymore. But why that was, Rei wasn't exactly sure. All that she knew, was that she was changing, and she didn't like it. Not one bit.

She made her way to the shrine, her home and refuge for as long as her current life had allowed her. Stepping into her room she glanced around, looking for something, anything to give her peace of mind, finding none. Ever since her memories had merged with her power she started to hate that small room. It was as if everything she knew was gone. The bed no longer her place of rest, the furnishings seemed to clutter the room, the floor seemed as if it wasn't needed, as if it was a luxury. A nice one, but one she didn't have an overt use for. No. Not a safe place. Things... things could be hiding here. She picked up Minako again, the blond now confused instead of upset. "Rei."

"It's not safe here." She whispered, carrying the blond down the hall and into the room that housed the sacred flame, sitting near the wall with the blond on her lap. "This place is better." She seemed self assured in her task. "Go to sleep. It's been a long night." Rei's voice was tired, but within the weight of stress came something else. Primal, and yet, soft. Her fingers caressed Minako's cheek for a second, that is to say, until Rei realized what she was doing. She pulled away abruptly, but not about to let go of Minako. "It'll be alright. Just rest for now." She said out of embarrassment and slight inward annoyance. Why had she done that?

Minako nodded but didn't say anything. She saw the fire flicker with life, the apparition of Mars nodding with approval, as if a parent would a child. "Yours." It was a simple word, but the meaning conveyed left a cryptic order. One Rei wasn't sure she could comply with. "Yours to protect."

TBC~~

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Like I said, I needed to give slightly more closer to how Rei handled the situation, and I wanted Minako's views known more outwardly as far as Rei understood them. It felt like with to many things left unsaid between them, it wouldn't ever give closer to an event that as far as Rei was concerned really needed to be worked through too at least some extent.


	55. arc 2, Chapter 11

A/N: This chapter came pouring out of me today at lunch so it is rather long. Don't gt used too it, I don't often type ones in this length, I just wasn't able to end it. I kept adding more and more and, well, you get the idea. Anyway, hope you like it. Please read and review.

I do not own Sailor Moon.

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Arc 2, chapter 11: Reflecting the Refractions, Part 1

Rei scowled that morning when she awoke. Minako wasn't in her arms. In fact, Minako wasn't even in the room with her anymore. She didn't know why, but that thought infuriated her. She looked at her watch and rolled her eyes. Leaving the safety of the fire room she ventured out back into the city streets. Minako had gone home. She just knew Minako went home. The blond left her again. Alone to fend on her own. Didn't she knew the city wasn't safe? Isn't that what Rei had told her? So why did she leave? It was something that left Rei unsure. She made her way hurriedly. She didn't like being out in the open with so many people around. There was something about it that made her uneasy, and partly angry.

It was a feeling that darkened her core. Her heart throbbed, her chest, it hurt as that of a needle draining all of her blood. Slowly, making her painfully aware of the inward torture. She wished she could mow down each and every person that crossed her path, wanted so dearly to show them what true power was. It floored her. It wasn't right to feel that way. She knew it, and yet... "If you act out with such anger and hate you'll only fail her again." Rei could hear her memory chiding her. She stopped herself in front of a store window looking, trying to find the memory that spoke, finding none. "We are one you and I. If you want to see me, you must now release me." It could read her thoughts now too?

Damn it all to hell.

"Don't speak out." Her memory won out over Rei's own reaction time. "They'll think you to be crazy, incapable of proper thought if you speak out in such a busy area." Rei didn't move, but she wished she could deck that idiot that had been her former persona. "Surely I know you would." Her memory could hear such an angry thought. "You're changing Rei. In order to better fit the role you must undertake. It is not wise to continue this here, keep such a thing in mind." Her memory quieted, but for some odd reason Rei knew it was still in her head. She spat inwardly at her dislike of the situation. "Go home." It was a simplistic order, and one Rei followed.

She didn't much like the outside now anyway. Not right now, not with her memory doing something again. Her steps were less frantic, but continued with unwavering speed. She wanted to be home quickly, she was an analytical soul and she wished explanations. Things that she would never know otherwise. Her mind deliberated about running back in search of Minako. She felt betrayed and stopped looking behind her back. She wanted to be by Minako's side, but she hated the idea that the blond made her so weak. She yearned for her her and yet, Rei prayed inwardly that her pining would fizzle out. "She didn't leave you." It was soft spoken, seemingly filled with regret, likely for actions that couldn't be undone. "You and I need to have a talk, and a woman of Minako's nature doesn't belong around such conversations."

"You mean, someone who gives unconditionally, doesn't belong around murders like us." That was the undertone Rei could catch, and even through clenched teeth she couldn't help but mutter such a replay. She was just that angry at herself. She continued back home, back to the shrine that had always protected her, even if right now it felt as cold and spiteful as these same city streets. Even if she could hear her memory, and wished to yell and scream at it, she didn't make anymore rebukes. At least not out loud for the general passersby.

"It is true." Her memory sighed lightly as Rei walked. "We haven't exactly been what a woman such as Minako needed, however, the history of the past isn't all just visions." Yet, she hadn't felt nearly as troubled as Rei when it came to speaking about such dark sins. "Go into your room." Mars may have preferred the fire room, but Rei wasn't a Martian by lifestyle, not anymore. She had to learn to get over that part of herself. The bed wasn't the Martian way, the house was four walls never to be taken down, and Mars didn't like that. Logically, she knew this was a safe place, but then again, logic and emotions were very different. She scoffed as she made herself part of reality, pulling away from Rei's human form.

Rei flinched in slight pain, who knew having a memory rip away like that could hurt so much? With one hand covering her face, she saw a version of herself standing before her. Mars was just like her dreams, but normal. Unbloodied, and untainted. A bow at her side, a quiver of arrows on her back. Her hair though pulled back lightly, hung loose compared to a tighter ponytail that had graced some of her memories. Garbed as a priestess, Rei know that this part of her wasn't exactly how she would have dressed in the past. She was softer than a warrior, but stance warned all who stood near. She was deadly despite her appearance. "You do not always see things in the form of truth."

"My god." Rei froze, pulled back, running into the wall behind her. That voice was a mirror image of herself, as if she would age into this. If she had been looking into glass after a day of tending the shrine, she could look like this. Especially in a few years. She hadn't the grace, lacked the poise behind that stance, but other than that, it was if this memory was not of such a hateful past. One marred by the gore, proof of inward weakness, this woman was not. "You're..." She couldn't understand. "What happened to the armor...and where is the..." She cut herself off. She didn't want to know where the blood had gone, where the carnage of history was. It hadn't washed away, those older eyes told as much.

Mars for her part just allowed the imploring gaze. She didn't move, instead she waited while Rei scanned her body. Likely, the girl was looking for signs of war, or at the very least death. Mars smiled lightly at that. She knew Rei would find none, and yet still, things simply didn't disappear, both of them knew of the trials, the sins. It wasn't as if you could atone for such crimes, but, it seemed as if Rei couldn't comprehend what she was seeing. It was then Mars allowed her eyes to look into Rei's, truth within lies, that's what the teenage girl had always known. What she should do, in place of what a normal person would have done. "We never really were all that different." Mars started slowly.

"Rei, Our planet was founded by the strongest. Teaming with those proud to be called warriors. My embodiment of that power is yours because of the ruthlessness you have in battle. However, it ends there. You, as you are now, and I, as I was beyond the training of my people...we are normal. Girls not yet women, and not completely ready for the trials placed before us. I was the age you are now when I first took on a transformation, but as your mind shows you, I had been raised for battle long before that. However, there was another part of me, part that you do not share, purely because now you need not understand such a thing." Mars gained what looked to be self loathing then. "Perhaps, if I had understood it, she wouldn't have suffered by my hand."

"You better understand something." Rei muttered again, she was still freaked out. Looking at yourself in a format that wasn't only see through, but also sounded exactly alike tended to do that to a person. She had seen horrific things, but it was perhaps this form, one that was most like herself, that made her shake where she stood. "Are you-" She paused. "Real?" Part of her, likely subconscious, wanted nothing more than to touch what she knew would be little more than a wisp of air. Another part had other ideas. "This isn't happening." She looked down at her body, and then again at the one before her. "No way." It wasn't comprehensible.

The light laughter, while composed, was something that Rei hadn't ever heard from her power before. "It is happening Rei. Like it or not." Lavender eyes found amusement, wishing almost to be able to comfort the human girl, still breathing, still standing without an unearthly glow. "The more we merge, the more you become me, and I become you." Mars advanced slowly then, proving her point and Rei's as she took the girl by the hand. She was a ghost and nothing more. Dead, despite being a more peaceful version of herself. "Rei, when I was younger I was a lot like you. Even in ways that I'd bet you never guessed. We are two beings within one reality. We are very much mirrored copies of ourselves. The only difference is how you choose to live with it."

Mars did seem different. Rei could agree with that. Whatever cause it, Rei wasn't completely sure. She listened as if each word gave her insight, she refused to miss this chance. Rei had always wanted her own memories, but beyond that, she wanted to understand. Needed to do so. "I hate this place." Venerability within anger, It dripped from the word Mars spoke. "I wish I could strike it down. This city, these walls. Such a loathsome and demented place has no right standing on freely formed ground. That is where you and I are different. Rei, my blood wasn't only Martian, my mother...she was from Venus. There were cities much like here, what you live around anyway." They were one in the same in that one unspoken light.

"Did you know her?" Rei felt like she already knew the answer.  
"No." The reply was simple if not heavy. "She passed on when I was a small child."  
"Grandpa says I look like her." Rei's soft admittance was filled with the turmoil expected.  
"Father told me the same." There was that contrast again.  
"Do you miss her?" Rei's question left a lot that could be said, but even more that shouldn't be.  
"A better question is; do you mourn her." Surely Mars would ask that.

A non committal sound found Rei's voice. "Grandpa raised me. He says I look more and more like mom every day. I just wonder if she would have liked the way my life has turned out. Even if she was alive though, I wouldn't be able to tell her." A bitter laugh found her then. "At least you had the freedom to tell people things. I bet you never lived and entire life lying." Mars took a seat by the wooden table, sitting as one would in Mars. An odd look crossed her face, as if she would have begged to differ, but then she ignored it. Her stance was relaxed. One knee was bent so she could rest her elbow, the other was folded so that her foot was in front of her, close by her torso. It was considered highly normal back on Mars. Then again..."No wonder they called us barbarians." Rei rolled her eyes taking in the posture and the fact that her ghost was chewing some sort of dried meat, it didn't look of this world at all. "Uh, what are you doing?"

"Eating." Mars thought that would have been obvious.  
"Why?" Rei didn't much like being confused. "I thought you weren't alive."  
Her mouth was full of food, but it didn't seem to matter. "Do you remember eating on Mars?"  
"Sort of." Rei nodded, earning a deadpanned look. "I just don't remember what I ate."  
"It's the fact you remember eating at all." Taking a metal canister of water, Mars than drank a sip. "Anything you remember I have the ability to do."

Rei didn't have a retort. She just continued looking on in confusion, a sort of odd interest pulling at her features. "Do you need food?" That's what bugged her. The figure shook her head and Rei became even more lost. "Or what about any other things I remember, are they things you need to do?" Again, the figure shook her head.

"I don't need anything. I'm dead." Mars put away the cured meat then, and sat staring at Rei with great care. "Listen, we share a body now, powers and minds will merge into a point, however beyond that, it is as I said. We are different. It's just..." Mars trailed off, it wasn't easy talking about the afterlife. "Being alive gives a person a level of fulfillment, it isn't something the dead get anymore. It's empty. I can eat, but I no longer grow hungry, so food is only enjoyment at best. I do not get parched, so water only feels cold and wet. As such, even if I do eat and drink, I have no mortal body. I don't need to rid myself of body waste as you would." Her hand graced the table, and the stapler nearby.

She wanted, no, she needed to prove a point. Placing one hand in between the metal she used her other hand to press it down. Or, at least, she tried...failing. Instead, her hand, not being of this world, no longer being mortal slid through the item in front of her, resting on her other hand. "Press it." She told Rei. The raven girl looked sickened by that order, and Mars elaborated. "It wouldn't ever hurt me. Rei, I have no concept of pleasure or pain, and thus any wish for contact is emotional only. I can't feel her touch on a physical level anymore, and sex is no more than the understanding of what we had. The emotional bond we still feel we need."

"I remember those dreams." Rei blushed, her eyes hitting the floor. "And I'd rather not."  
"Does it embarrass you?" Mars already knew anyway.  
"I just don't like dreaming about my best friend like that." Mars nodded, she could understand.  
"She doesn't only want friendship." Rei curled into herself further, she didn't want to talk about it.  
"I can't, not after what happened." As if something came to mind she blushed further. "Besides, she and...just no."

There were plenty of times Rei had to shower after a particularly graphic dream. She was a virgin, she knew she was...but those dreams, she shuttered, she didn't want to remember what she hadn't already done. She had seen her friend in the hot springs many times, seen her dress, Rei hadn't the need to fantasize, she knew what Minako looked like. She didn't need an imagination, but gods did she wish on more than one occasion that she had remained so innocent, so pure within her mind. "I can't erase some things, and really wish I could." She looked up then, almost annoyed. "It's weird having a friend for years and knowing the two of you slept together." As if her admission became a great burden, she quietly added an afterthought. "Especially when I haven't even touched her."

"You felt it pretty vividly, didn't you." Memories were troubling like that. Mars shook her head at what she knew was teenage innocence winning out over carnal desires. Martians were never so embarrassed over procreation, and never so timid that they hid from it. This girl would gain many suitors as she continued to age, Mars was assured of that. Rei never did seem like the type to have talked about sex before. Not openly, and not freely. "I know only part of what you are going through." Mars felt as if she had to take on the role. She was a protective spirit, her job was to guide this new version of herself. "You hesitate out of feeling overwhelmed. I can understand that, and even respect it. However I can not condone the fact you hide from her only because you what you may end up doing."

"Yeah, well I can't just tell her I have feelings for her either." Rei's words rang true. "Minako's my friend, I care about her. It's just that I'm not ready yet. I can't face her like you want. I can hardly keep a light conversation as it is, not to mention that I haven't ever given her affection, not like what you gave Venus. I don't even know if I would have the gull to do what you did with her." Mars chuckled at the face Rei gave at that. "Some of that borderlines abusive, might I just add."

"When your girl wants kink, you give her kink." If a pillow hadn't been thrown into the ghost's direction, Rei would have seen Mars smirking.  
"Ew!" Rei felt like she had to emphasize a point. "She's my friend!"  
"This is why you have all of that anger pent up." Mars being passive aggressive? Who knew she could be.  
"Did you expect me to be happy?" Rei shot back. "As if."

"Calm down, that wasn't what I meant." Mars knew there wasn't any good way to explain her feelings on the matter. Only bad, and perhaps choppy realities made up all of her expertise on the subject. "It isn't something easily understood by outsiders." She scratched her arm lightly, trying to think of how to put things delicately. "There were many warriors who sought me. I was often chased after by many powerful men bearing gifts of fallen pray. Proof that they could provide for me a family and father strong offspring. Mothers presented my father their sons, asking for an arranged marriage. If father wished it, it is true I would have taken them as a husband. I would have presented myself as a proper Martian wife. On the night we wed, they would have taken me, multiple times, as I would have them. I should have done that, but instead I chose Venus."

Someone had to talk about it. Clearly, Rei wasn't going to be the one to start. "She was always so measured in her actions. Haphazard, yes, but part of her always held that glow. The wish to be better. I never really knew much of my mother, not until I grew older and the real truth spilled out. Venus was part of that truth for me, my mother was a woman of her planet. Rei, you have more freedoms, things I've never had you've been given. I know what you're thinking, "poor little Martian princess, pouring out her life story, like it really makes and difference", but it does Rei. Your life isn't so muddled. You have a real chance this time."

"At what? Hurting someone else?" Why was this girl so guarded?  
"You keep torturing yourself and you'll really loose that chance."Mars didn't really have a clue.  
"It wasn't like I was given a choice in the matter." Rei sighed. Already giving up it seemed.  
"She loves you, you incompetent jackass!" There was the true color of Mars, anger to a fault.

That shut Rei up. All she could do was look on at her fuming image, she was astounded the room hadn't caught fire. After a few very carefully measured breaths, Mars bit back her anger as best as she could. "If you want her, go after her, but if you do, then understand one thing. My instincts are your instincts. My power is your power, and thus, some of my undesirable traits will come out into you. The same will happen with Minako and her powers of Venus. You can't change it. You may get angry, and possessiveness is guaranteed. If you want her, if you so much as go near her, you better make sure as hell that you love her. What's so stupid is the fact that even if you don't admit it, you'll go and be an idiot like you were today. Rushing off to react like a total and complete moron before thinking clearly first!"

"Oh, and you wouldn't have?" Rei felt like she was shouting at herself.  
"Not before thinking I wouldn't!" Mars was still the brawn behind them both.  
"I don't believe that for a second." Rei just didn't know it, not fully.  
"You better.." Mars got quiet then, as if she had used all of her hot air. "You just don't get it."

Rei was stubborn. That was a trait Mars could relate with. As if the Martian held pity for that fact alone, she neared Rei, hugging her. "You can not continue fighting over the emotions you carry. It will only welcome destruction by your own hands. I'm not saying you must court her, all I'm staying is that she hold no ill will towards you, loves you without complaint. Sooner or later you will be a queen once again, in charge of your own people, and that of the kingdom. You will have many duties that will be yours and yours alone. In times of tragedy, you will be forced to stand strong, even when you don't wish to be so. Minako will protect you, regardless of your feelings. If nothing else, you owe her your blade, your fire, and your word. She is yours Rei. Yours to protect."

"What about Usagi?" Mars smiled at the question, but held more pride for the angry rage still burning deep within Rei. "I have her. She is my job, she is who I protect. Her eyes sparkle with such a profound wisdom, and yeah, she's a ditz, but that's why she needs me. Minako doesn't. She's the combat leader. She's in charge." Grasping at straws wasn't going to work, but she still needed to try. Denial was a great fiddle to play, a wonderful instrument to rely on...

Unless, you were fighting a force that already knew such trickery.

"All the more reason." Mars insisted. "She has no one watching out for her. Yes, it is true. The princess does need you. But she has everyone watching her. Looking out for her, protecting her. Who's watching Minako? Who's holding Minako, removing her tears, giving her a smile? Who's protecting her? It is not the job of the princess, it is not the responsibility of the cats that advise you. The job is yours Rei. It is yours because I can no longer hold her, no longer protect her. Venus is my responsibility within this empty void I call afterlife. You are the second in command, however, you must support her, protect her. That is a job you own."

They all had commitments in the past that transcended time. Rei may not have been the only one, but at least hers was a clear cut path, placed out before her on a road paved in gold. Granted, that slope may have been uphill, it was still lavished in riches of the heart and soul, that is, if she was willing to take the chance. Others weren't so lucky. While some were gifted a hard, yet very logical outcome, one of hopeful happiness, others such as Makoto found herself lost. Not for the first time, and seemingly never for the last, she wandered aimlessly through her small apartment. Her mind wasn't on any one thing, but it was clear her companion thought otherwise.

"You really should sit down." Ami's cool and calm demeanor had always been a welcoming change among the normally chaotic group of the Senshi. They were more than friends, less than lovers in an odd light. They could say anything at all, speak freely no matter the topic at hand, and even share the same bed, even if nothing ever came of it. "Makoto?" She knew well enough that the taller girl wouldn't really be paying attention, so she simply returned to her book. Ami wasn't ever the one to pry.

Likely, that was why they spent so much time together. The others often making jokes about their private life. Sexual innuendo's were always aimed at them, and while they could both agree that they did have a sort of special understanding, it never went past platonic feelings, with perhaps, a bit of a childhood crush thrown in on the side. They knew where they stood, respected that distance, that fine line, no matter how minuscule it may have seemed outwardly. That was why it was safe. The tall brunette tumbled onto the sofa, her head resting in Ami's lap as she sighed out in confusion. "I hate that woman." It was spoken with a level of annoyance, but a small part of her voice also held sadness. Loss.

"What did Setsuna do now?" The words were harsh, but were easily softened by the tone Ami used. She was as withdrawn from the situation as she could possibly be, her lack of concern proven when her eyes didn't leave the book. She awaited Makoto's answer, but realized she wasn't going to get one, and remained reading. The apartment had been like this for days, the atmosphere hard to breath in, let alone think rationally. She placed down her hard covered tome, placing it upon the nearby end table. Her eyes squaring off with something no one else could see. "Out. Now would be good."

Mercury did as she had been instructed, pulling away from Ami's body. Standing mutely, awaiting further instruction. While it was true she and Ami often shared words, they didn't often like appearing in front of each other. It was too unworldly, both could agree with that. "I doubt Makoto wants to be around others unlike herself during this occasion. I'd rather you step into the crystal for the time being. It wouldn't do for you to continue to sit around in my head anyway. There are other things you can occupy the free times with."

"I would still be able to hear what you say you know. You'll think it first, remember?" It was easy enough to forget.  
"That may be, but, you won't hear Makoto, and right now, she needs the solitude you being here will not offer her." Then again, they were one in the same for a reason.

The power known as Mercury considered that. She nodded, bowing out of the room without a further word to speak. She really had nothing to offer Makoto in this life, no words of wisdom, none of solace. In the past she had been more aloof, and highly eccentric, she knew it. This new girl, it was clear that the people of earth favored love and emotional standing over logical and concise action. Mercury was lost here, and she made no protest, only admitting defeat in matters of the heart. This place, while it held technology, wasn't of her homeland, and she couldn't say she liked it. Be that as it may, it didn't matter anyway. Ami, the shy school girl was the proper holder of the host body. Mercury understood that better than anything else. Her place was to guide Ami, not eaves drop in conversations.

"Are you truly that upset with her?" Ami didn't see the point in holding grudges, all it did was fuel more unwanted emotions and loss of sleep. The stress Makoto put herself through wasn't anything to sneeze at either. When all she heard was a discontented sigh, she began to absentmindedly run her fingers through auburn tresses. They were tangled and matted having spent being stuck underneath a bandanna all day long while her taller friend binge cleaned. The apartment may have been almost spotless, but clearly one very large smudge never seemed to remove itself from the room. Pain, regret, hate, anger, left little more than a womb to harbor infectious malice.

"Yes." It was spoken indignantly, almost calling Ami an idiot with purely her tone.  
"She is right you know." Ami meant well.  
"Who cares." Makoto knew that...  
"I care." But emotions got the better of everyone.

Including Ami. "I'm worried you're taking this a tad bit far." Makoto would have loved to retort with venom, but knew better. Instead she settled for a glare. "Stop that." Even if the warning was placed carefully, Makoto knew that tone. Ami would back her into the wall any day of the week. "Now, I know you, and I know you like to think you've always had control over your life, but we both know how wrong that is." Timid though she may have been, but there was a very distinct reason Makoto trusted the girl more than anyone else. Even with the non threatening upward inflection, it was clear. Ami was done with Makoto's little anger game. Someone had to step in.

"We both know, great." The bite was dripping with pain. Ami rolled her eyes at that. For all the brawn Makoto had, most was bark. Yes, she could beat anything into a bloody pulp if she wanted, but then she was forced to deal with guilt. "She doesn't belong in my life. She's such an idiot, playing role of mother hen when she's the one who had all the stupid cards! She has more power than she cares to admit." She turned to face Ami then, but only burring herself away from view. She didn't want anyone, not even Ami to see her crying.

Never mind that face the girl of blue tresses could feel the tears falling from normally fierce emerald eyes. "What would you like me to do, go over there and slap her for you?" Although it was said in good humor, the reality wasn't lost between either of them. Ami would step in if she felt she had too. Makoto just merely shook her head unwilling to ask for help, but not verbally denying it either. Such was life as a Senshi, forever fighting, never resting. Be it a battling a foe, or even their own souls, it always seemed this way. Unrelenting and in a way unending.

In the back of her mind she chided herself. Why hadn't she noticed? She wasn't sure. There was only one thing she knew. It was time to stop playing house.

TBC~

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Like I said, this chapter just kind of poured forth, and took on a life of its own. That's why it got so long. I'm breaking it up into parts since I'm not exactly done with this chapter, but if I made it any longer, who knows when you would see the next update...lol...anyway, please read and review.


	56. Arc 2, Chapter 12

A/N: Well, this is part two, and again, it ran longer than I would have liked but this is a segment from the last chapter that I didn't finish, plus Minako's views. lol. Again, I revert to very angry, and angst ridden Minako. I haven't ticked her off this much since the first arc, but I felt it was needed, since We've seen how Rei feels, now it's time to see how Minako feels.

Please read and review.

I do not own Sailor Moon.

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Arc 2, Chapter 12: Reflecting the Refractions, Part 2

Music wafted through the speakers of a pink and white player, the cassette sometimes made static as it played through all of the songs. She used to love this music. She had been a small child though, and life was easier back then. She could be the popular girl, and she was. Skipping from her kindergarten room and into the lunchroom. Gym was a class she loved, and math was the one she fell asleep in the most. Much to her dismay, she wouldn't ever be allowed to do as she wished. Music, back then, was still a form of self expression, as it was today. But her choices didn't exactly garner popularity. She could listen in on anything, and as a child, it didn't really matter.

Appearances back then, well it was just that. An appearance and nothing more. It mattered not who she met. Friends were but a fleeting thing. Her father was rather strict, her mother very unaware. It seemed they lacked the time to care for a girl such as she. One that needed extra moments of attention. Minako would have flourished in beauty contests, adoring the spotlight and the devotion of competition. That didn't happen. Sadly, very little did, and the life for that child moved on as boring and very uneventful as an ant along pavement. It was mundane, but it didn't mean it was safe. It was filled with dangerous holes, and often Minako almost tripped. Appearances were cruel things, used by only the most evil children of her age, trying, striving to make a name for themselves.

As she grew older though, these appearances defined her. Pop music with flashy openings, beats and rhythms that her mother would call racket, and highly inappropriate, this was her world. Her hair gained a style that was hers, and hers alone. Slightly childish, and yet so confidant, nobody saw the difference. Food was different. No longer did a children's meal and a kiddie toy pull her interest. No, now it was dinning out, with a boy, or her friends. Spending money at the arcade, being loud and wild. Living life to the fullest as she no longer wore only the skirts made for school. No, she was not so innocent anymore. She learned how to flaunt her body, how to be sexy without even trying. She was Venus incarnate, the goddess of love. She had to be that way, right?

Wrong!

Minako paced as she listed to that childish music from her past. Back when stuff like that was merely child play. Nothing more. "You can't be gloomy forever." Venus said quite calmly as she watched the blond that now inhabited the living world. Venus was her name in both power and beauty. Wearing only a nightshirt hardly covering her body, Minako wondered why the sin of her past had to annoy her. Flaunting her body in such a way wasn't appealing. Minako liked to look good, even prided herself on looking attractive, pulling the gaze of many if she could, but this was just nuts. She could see shapely thighs and hips, a round firm butt that clearly had nothing covering it, and of course, her cleavage wasn't anything to sneeze at. It wasn't overly large, but in that shirt, Minako wondered if it could be.

"No, but you can continue to act like a slut for forever and a day, can't you." Minako wasn't normally so rude. Today though, her ability to be kind, caring, and compassionate flew out the window. It left her the same time she left Rei's room, and at the suggestion of this dead woman no less. She wished Artemis was here, she really did. He was her guide, he was her protection on an emotional level. She could confide in him, hug him as she buried her face into his fur, she missed that so much. Where was he? Shooed out again by the annoyance sitting provocatively on her desk. "Can you at least cover up?" She groused. She needed her real teacher, the man who was really a cat, the cat who was her father. He had been more of a parent than anyone else.

"I see no point in covering myself." Venus shrugged.  
"Then go away, I don't want you around." Minako didn't want games today.  
"I did place a shirt on, after all, I didn't think you'd want to see me totally nude." Why did Venus have to stay?  
"I don't want to see you." Taking a breath, she tried to keep herself calm. "Especially dressed like a floozy."  
"Even if it was Mars who-" That was a land mine.

A very explosive land mine.

"Shut up!" Minako turned quickly, eying the transparent woman in front of her. "Do you have to be such a..." Anger left her then, instead, a different trait filled her. Jealousy. She wanted to slap the woman if front of her, but that wouldn't do any bit of good. She knew that. "You know I love her, you know I need her in my life. So what do you go and do? Crush every damn bit of sanity I have be telling me to leave her. You tell me to trust her human upbringing. I did that. I've done nothing but take hidden chances while you..." She knew that no matter what, the ghost of her former self was only attempting to egg her on. She then closed her eyes as she licked her lips. "Go ahead." She paused, trying to regain her composure, failing miserably. "Fuck her on my bed Venus, it would hurt less."

Fury. That's what Venus held in her stance. She rushed at Minako, scaring the girl as she fell onto the floor, eyes gazing down at the teen below her. Licking her lips, she smirked. Minako wanted to play adult games did she? Who better a teacher than she, herself. Moving into a sitting position, she watched the girl below. Appraising her, then she closed her eyes, placing on hand on Minako's belly a wicked smile upon her lips. Oh it would be so easy to toy with her. Make her yell and cry out for a release. She was herself after all, and what better aphrodisiac for a woman than her own mind? Venus couldn't think of one. "I can show you what it feels like." Venus said sexily.

Minako tensed, she could feel a hand roaming on her body, even if she knew no one actually was. "What are you doing!" Shocked or appalled, she had no idea. She only knew that this line was very fine. What ever Venus was doing, it wasn't going to win her favors.

"She wouldn't be happy unless she could have all of me. Up my legs, down my arms, teasing me with such a soft touch that I knew she was being playful." Minako closed her eyes willing the feeling to go away. She knew what Venus was doing, and she didn't like it. She had to stop it somehow, forcing her own mind away from the image of Mars. Away from Rei. "I would tell her as much, that playtime was over. She would pull me closer as she kissed me, her body on mine, flesh on flesh. That alone made me tingle in delight and anticipation."

"STOP!" Minako shrieked out in near tears as she rolled herself away in panic. She had felt that body on her. She didn't like it. Didn't want to experience things this way. "Just stop." She was shuttering. It felt so real, so life like, and she knew it was dreams surfacing into reality. She didn't want that. Hugged her body close, she realized what that could have been seen as. She also knew, Venus wouldn't normally have done that. "Don't do that again." She breathed. "Don't ever, do that while I'm awake."

She went too far that time. Venus pushed because she had too. She took her role seriously. Guide the girls, Minako was her concern, but there was a bigger role at hand. This was more than an ego trip. "Stand down, little girl." Venus stood from her spot walking right through Minako, standing in the open room. "You don't know what you want." Running fingers through her hair like she owned the place she scoffed. "To love a woman like her. It'll take more than what you have. You, you go to her every time, let her hide every time...she won't ever grow up." Minako, the girl was still only a child herself. Venus understood that now. "You can't handle her."

"Listen, I don't know what-"

"No." Venus spat. "You listen." Her venom, it was intimidation at the core. Minako quieted instantly, she was still rightfully spooked. "I'm not playing games child. You will obey orders. You don't have the luxury of being a spoiled. True love isn't romantic, it isn't all fluffy stars. You've seen true love through my eyes, Minako. You know it isn't pretty." She sighed then, gods, raising children was hard. She wasn't a mother, and yet, she sure felt like one. This teen, she was alright for just being a teen, but... "I know it isn't easy. It's consuming you. I know it is. Passions of youth is hard as it is, never mind the fact you've never had a girl like Rei at your side before. I know that feeling. However, you are in charge of the Senshi as a unity. Rei can not be the Martian she was...just as you can not be the Venusian I was."

Earth may have been filled with so much anger and malice, however, it cultivated life and hope. The colonization of Earth brought forth many good things, and it also put out many bad. While it was true that the Senshi would retain their emotions and feelings, they would be the only ones. The race of humans were now one unity. The problems that history brought forth paled when compared to the old moon. They had a chance, unifying their people as one, it would be so much easier now. But these children, they wouldn't know that, not until it was their time to stand tall. "I'm not the person you were." Minako was still the fighter. Her defenses were still strong.

"You are." It was simple, but it was clear cut fact. "I would stay by her side because of who she was, and what she felt she needed, all until that night. She gave into her weakness, he fears took hold. Minako, Rei now understands what love is. That was something Mars couldn't ever grasp. Not completely, but your Rei, she can. She has the ability to understand it. If you keep letting her hide behind you, she will never comprehend what she fights for. Martians value loyalty and ownership. Mars will project that image of strength into Rei, showing her Martian values. They will wage war with what she understands and how she had been raised." Venus took on an air of a drill instructor when she had to do so. It was part of her job. "Rei must learn to pick and choose her battles. You must let her accomplish that, on her own."

Minako swallowed, she was still shaken up. Gods that had felt so real, and had Rei been the one...she knew she would still be there. She knew she would have waited for Rei to take her, ravish her. She wanted it, she really did. It was just, Rei wasn't here. Rei was at the shrine, Rei wasn't going to come running. She licked her lips, so dry, but still tingly. Her body felt hyper sensitized purely because she knew those dreams well, and in the land of sleep she hadn't much minded. Now though. She hated the feeling. Her mind was now rampant, all thanks to Venus. Minako hadn't considered herself an overly horny teenager, but now she questioned herself. Highly. For some reason, she couldn't catch her breath after being so unglued.

"Calm down." The order was easy to hear, but not easy to follow. "I wasn't going to rape you. I wouldn't have pushed that far." She leaned on the wall, slumping to the floor, she needed a break. Emotionally, she felt drained. Minako was too, she could see the girl in agony, mentally fighting with logic and emotion. "Minako." The voice was soft, but unwavering. "It is alright..if you want to cry." The girl seemed to wish she could, and partly Venus kicked herself. However, the damage had already been done, and, despite feeling sorry for Minako, she didn't actually regret her actions. "Stop trying to be the adult that you aren't." They didn't need to be adults yet. Senshi though they were, queens they were not. That was something everyone could be thankful for.

That was all she said, but Minako knew the weight of the words spoke even deeper than that sentence. There was more, and it was a depth that you couldn't see. Don't act rashly. Don't give in. Don't feel badly. Cry, yell, kick and scream. Laugh, smile, play, live. Stop wishing away the days. Stop faking emotions. There were so many things that had just been said. The context wasn't easy to lose. How many dates had she gone on? She couldn't remember. How many ended with a kiss? She could count that on one hand. How many of those progressed further? Two. Lastly, how many of those had ended without Senshi life getting in the way? None. Minako sighed then. Was she really so doomed? She didn't know that answer. But, even so...

She placed her head on her knees, sitting in a little ball. "I hate you." Her admission was so weak, so frail. "You're the one who screwed up." Her voice was a barely there whisper among the music still playing. "Not me." She really needed Artemis. She needed him now more than ever. He would know what to do, and, he wouldn't have gone to extremes. She could talk to him, and, he would listen. She wanted Rei by her side too. Even if Martians were dangerous, Rei wasn't. She wasn't as long as she knew everyone was safe. "I'm scared, don't get me wrong but..." She refused to look past the floor, dared not allow her eyes venture beyond her glued stare. "I don't want to be alone anymore."

They were alone though. All of the Senshi were. It was a fate to be alone, it was life. Just life. Usagi would have to watch as Mamoru left often for work when he became the king. She would pine for him, beg him to come home, but just like the last life, he had duties. She had hers too, but hers remained in one spot. Not only the figurehead, no only a for show, but instead, her path was to be a true leader for the populace. Rei, she would have her roles, Minako would as well. Every single one of them would click into place, a key into a lock. However, just like a key, just like a lock, not only did they guard the future, they guarded emotions.

"It just so happened that some keys could open more than one door." Setsuna knew that metaphor well as she sighed it out. Her mother used that saying long ago. In the early days of training, she hadn't understood what that meant, now she understood it perfectly. It was an obscure saying, but one that was of high importance. Time, space, fate, all of these things were fragile. So too were emotions, both shallow and deep alike could be broken at a mere whim. Senshi were all protective people by nature, and so for Setsuna it hadn't been a shock when she opened her door, seeing a figure on the other side. "I just never assumed you'd be a key as well."

"I will not pretend I understand what it is you've decided to mutter about, but I think it's time you've left Makoto alone." They sat at the kitchen table. Ami on one end, soft and gentle like a summer breeze. "She isn't from the past, and unless you truly have something of importance she needs to hear, it's time you let it become simply that." Cold and angry, a frost that kills off leaves, makes the grass turn yellow, and flowers wilt. "I'm sure that these few days, and the upcoming months, perhaps years, have very little to do with the future." Calculating like a Kodkod, blending unto her surroundings. Fangs ready, claws sharp, ready for the kill. She was such a timid Senshi, but, lay one paw on her friends and you paid. Dearly.

"Why do you seem so stubborn about protecting her." It was a statement, not a question. Setsuna wasn't easily unnerved by the whims of her friends. She had no reason to be so. Not by this girl, anyway. She studied Ami, the girl was insightful, no doubts there. "This isn't a competition Ami. You can let your guard down, believe it or not." She placed something wrapped in cloth on the table. "Hotaru brought home her wand, and has been guarding it for some time now, however, she has no reason to cope with her powers. Instead, it is Makoto who must." She urged Ami on, pushing the item forth. "Take this, give it to Makoto, if she can handle the heat she will."

"Setsuna, what's in that cloth." She received a smirk, but not a clear and concise answer.  
"A test." Setsuna took a sip of her tea. "It is time she faced her own demons."  
"So, that's it then?" Ami stood then, her body tense. "You'll just give up on her that easily."  
"Stop talking as if you understand me." Setsuna's words were carefully guarded.  
"What don't I understand?" The question was laced with poison.  
"Everything." The answer, again was blunt. It told all, without saying a thing.

"I don't often brag, but, I'm a wonderful student." Ami spoke while composing herself. Sitting properly, her hands folded on the table she studied Setsuna before speaking. "Try me." It was a challenge. "Show me that what I see is wrong, teach me what it is that has you two so up in arms all of the time." She then sipped from her cup, the tea very hot, almost burning her tongue. She endured the heat without faltering, uncaring of the scorching pain. She was the Senshi before all else, but never once did Ami ever sate just who it was she stayed a Senshi for. Usagi was a given, however, there was more than just mere warning in her eyes. "If you seem so willing to test Makoto's abilities, it is only fair you place the rest of us through some sort of exam as well, correct? Here I am, give me the best shot you have."

"For one so smart, you lack the understanding needed." She thought carefully, this game could turn dangerous. Setsuna had no intention of making enemies, but she knew her actions could make them turn on her quickly. Essentially with Ami sitting at the table Setsuna couldn't play mind games. None of the others took Ami's word lightly, she knew this. Everyone knew this. "Still, I'd rather not have Haruka on my tail. Tell me what it is you want. I'll give you what you seek, as long as you keep quiet. This doesn't really concern you anyway."

"You can't buy me what I want." Ami sighed, she knew this would be difficult. "I wish merely peace of mind. I haven't been able to sleep in the longest time purely because Makoto's under such distress." She placed her hand on the cloth, knowing what Setsuna was trying to do, either way, the offer was going to be refused. "I am going to take this, I will keep it for myself. Makoto isn't going to be given any sort of responsibility until she is ready to handle it." Without even looking at the offered items, she picked it up and placed it into her bag that sat by her feet. "What you can give me, is very simple. I want honest answers, regardless of fate."

"You can't have everything you want." Setsuna should have known.  
"It's the price of my silence." She was angry.  
"Who would you tell?" Setsuna wondered that. "Makoto?"  
"Usagi." The name brought forth made Setsuna pale.  
"What?" Now the game was getting interesting.

"I don't know what it is fate tells you, but I do understand the extent of the powers you hold." Ami again, sipped from her tea, and although the gesture was innocent, that's also what gave her the power behind her word. She wasn't trying to play the card of deception. "I'm well aware that fate doesn't tell you everything. If it did, you'd already be informed that I've gone over your head and directly to Minako on this matter. This was done at the shrine mind you, it was long enough ago that if fate wished you to know, you would have been told by now." Her voice was dripping with what almost sounded like pity. "Makoto will be given the same rights Rei has been. She has all the time she needs, no matter if you like it, or not."

"I don't like it, but then again, I've had to sit and wait quietly long enough. I'm tired of waiting, tired of watching her from afar." Setsuna was losing her calm and calculating wall that kept information in, and meddlers out. "If you truly want answers, I'll give you one you can not dispute. Surely you know Makoto and I were lovers. In the past I was young and stupid, I thought I could fight the world, charge at it with an iron fist, taking on fate, and my mother's whims." She stood then, walking around the table. This girl wanted truth? She would give her truth. "I was wrong Ami, I was gravely wrong. I didn't have the powers I thought I had, and although I have a rather long leash, I'm still merely a dog."

Roughly, she grabbed Ami's face, eyes of steel instead of passion or love. She pressed her lips close, forcing herself upon Ami, and forcing the reality of a mage onto her. The rift of time and space opened, the lines of the stream muddled beyond compare. She would see, just as Makoto had done. Setsuna knew the line she crossed was dangerous, but regardless of punishment, she wouldn't care. She pulled away just as roughly, pushing Ami back into her seat as she held the back of the chair in a white knuckled grip. "You wanted truth, well there you have it."

"What is that?" Ami placed her fingers upon her lips in fright. She was unsure why, she she sensed great purpose in what she had just sensed and seen. Setsuna had given her all the information she needed, but, she still hadn't explained herself.

"Ask Makoto." Setsuna sighed exasperated.  
"I'm asking you." Ami pushed further.  
"She holds more answers than I do about that particular subject." Setsuna wouldn't speak.

She couldn't speak it. Not anymore. She loved Makoto, but her mind wavered on the possibilities. She shook her head. These girls wouldn't get it. Time was a complex system, but so was life, and love. It eluded all of them, but that was also why no answer could truly define anything in spoken words. Only feelings and actions could possibly explain things. Setsuna only hoped that Makoto could find those answers herself. They were lonely creatures in the past, but, thinking on it, life wasn't different even now. History would repeat, that was always logical, but now Setsuna wondered, just how much would stay the same, and how much would change.

TBC~

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Like I said, Minako was quite hot headed, but I just couldn't see her as any other way. I hope you liked it, even if it was a bit harsh.


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